Memories
by SunRae5
Summary: Before Byakuya became known as the cold and distant captain he is now, he was something else... He was 18, still at the Academy and partnered with one stubborn young woman who hates nobles. But what happened then that leads him to change? ByakuyaXOC ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

_**Memories**_

_**Prologue - The Funeral**_

_"Byakuya, will you do me a favour? Each year, on my birthday, could you lie cherry blossoms on my grave? Just so that I know that someone is still thinking of me when I'm gone." With a sad smile in her eyes she turned to him._

"You're here again."

Byakuya started. Turning around he saw his fellow captain of Squad 13, Jushiro Ukitake, standing there with a bouquet of larkspur and forget-me-nots. Slowly he came to where Byakuya was sitting.

"She's been gone for so long, why do you still come here?" Jushiro queried, trying to look into Byakuya's eyes as if hoping to find a answer to some question he had asked long ago.

"The same reason you probably come here every year too." Byakuya answered, his head still turned away.

"Yeah, probably. The only difference being though that I am her brother and you are not." Jushiro looked as if he was deep in thought. "You know, with all respect Byakuya..."

Byakuya looked up in surprise as Jushiro called him that. It had been years since they had called each other by their first name. To be accurate, 62 long years.

"...but why do you come here every year? This time of the year is the only time that I ever see you not wear that icy mask of yours."

Byakuya smiled sadly.

"You know that she always wore that expression when she didn't want people to know what she thought?" Jushiro was wearing a sad smile himself.

"Yeah, I remember all right." Both men turned away, looking at the beautifully carved headstone, remembering.

_Strangely the sun was shining that day. It shouldn't have been. It should have been raining and pouring in streams. The sky should have been grey and stormy and a wild storm should have been going on. But no. Instead it was one of the prettiest days in the years so far. The cherry trees had just started to blossom and the birds were singing in the trees. It was as if the world was mocking her death. Byakuya looked up towards the sky, wondering if things would be all right again._

_Picking up the bouquet of cherry blossoms he started to move towards the door. A sudden stab of pain stopped him in his tracks. Wincing he held his side. He hadn't completely recovered yet and Captain Unohana had actually advised that he stay put in the infirmary and not move around to much. But this was one thing that he absolutely couldn't miss._

_He arrived at the graveyard and noticed in surprise the large amounts of people that had gathered there to wish her a final farewell. Putting on the mask that he had seen her put on so many times he started to walk towards the congregation. He went to stand next to his grandfather as well as his captain of the 6th division, Ginrei Kuchiki._

_Ginrei looked over to his son standing further back. When his grandson had joined him he had been incredibly pleased to see him wear a mask of indifference. The same could not be said of his son. His son was looking incredibly sad at how Byakuya looked. Maybe it had been for the best that she had died, maybe Byakuya would then learn that one had to always hide his emotions. His brow furrowed at that thought. For the past year Byakuya had been wooing another girl and quite frankly he hoped that his grandson would refrain from doing that any further. She was a servant after all!_

_Byakuya sighed quietly. He hadn't talked to Hisanna recently but he probably should. However going over to her would probably just remind him of the painful gap Ari's absence had left in his heart. He had been surprised when Ari had introduced them both. He had instantly been annoyed at that she might be match-making since he obviously wasn't intrested but Hisanna had become a surprisingly good friend. In fact she was standing over by crowd right now, crying, something he wished he could do._

_The service then began. Byakuya felt his blood boiling as the service dragged itself on. All of those things that they were saying. That wasn't how they had percieved her throughout her life. Lies sure as hell wouldn't help. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep this facade up. When would this false play finally stop?_

_The service lasted for another two hours. Byakuya waited until everyone else had gone before he went to the headstone._

_"Sorry to disappoint you Ari." He whispered softly, "I won't be able to put the cherry blossoms at your grave on your birthday. But I will be able to on the day you died. You won't be forgotten."_

Byakuya opened his eyes. 62 years after Ari's death and he still couldn't figure out why he came here every year. He knew, as all those around him did, that he generally wasn't a very sentimental man. He had come to love Hisanna and had eventually married her, even if that marriage had only lasted for five years. Hisanna had reminded him in many ways of Ari, the fire in her eyes, the compassion she had for those she held close to her heart. He didn't like to think that he might have cared more for Ari than he had believed at the time. But now, looking back on how things had been...

"She was a truly remarkable person. Even after her death, she manages to keep you lost in thought." Byakuya looked up in shock, he hadn't realised that Jushiro Ukitake was still sitting next to him.

"Well, I must be going now, after all, I didn't take my day off like you did." Jushiro smiled down at him as he stood up. "You know, maybe you should stop pretending that you don't care, you only hurt yourself and I'm sure that Ari wouldn't have wanted that."

Byakuya stared after Captain Jushiro Ukitake of Squad 13 until he had vanished around the corner.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Oof, that's the first chapter done. =D Just some information here; Larkspur stand for a beautiful spirit and forget-me-nots for "remember me forever"._


	2. Partners

_**Memories**_

_**Chapter 1 - Partners**_

Renji stared at the empty office in front of him.

"Where the hell..."

"If you're looking for Captain Kuchiki, then you won't find him today. He's taken the day off."

Renji turned around and was surprised to see Captain Ukitake standing in the doorway.

"Captain Ukitake..."

"Haven't you noticed it yet Lieutenant Abarai?" Jushiro smiled at Renji, "Captain Kuchiki takes this day off every year. I thought you would have noticed by now, considering that you have been his lieutenant for quite some time now. Anyway, as I said, he won't be in today so I guess you will have to take care of that mountain of work on his desk."

Renji cursed quietly under his breath.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then." With that Jushiro left the Squad 6 barracks while giving Renji a short wave.

Renji sighed. Great, now he had to take care of all that blasted paperwork. During the winter and the time leading up to it, nearly no paperwork had been completed. Everyone had been busy training for it. With another sigh he moved to the desk to take the mountain of papers. After picking them up and taking them over to his desk he couldn't resist the temptation to look into the captain's drawers. After all, one had to jump at the opportunities that life presented.

He walked over to the desk and opened the drawer at the top. With surprise he noticed that this drawer contained photos and pictures. Curious he picked them up. The top one was one of Byakuya and Rukia about 20 years after she had been adopted into the Kuchiki clan. It was on her birthday and both of them were wearing festive clothes, presumably to go to a fancy restaurant afterwards. The next one was one of Byakuya's parents, both of them beaming at the camera. It most have been quite some time back, since Lady Kuchiki was still looking well in it. The last picture however was the one which caught Renji in surprise.

On it was Byakuya and another woman, both of them grinning at the camera. Renji was pretty sure that he had never seen this woman before. She had startling silver hair, and if you looked closer, you could see that there were golden streaks in her hair as well. Her eyes were a bright turquoise, probably even brighter than Captain Hitsugaya's. They seemed to shine with happiness. Both Byakuya and this woman were wearing the usual Shinigami black uniform and it looked like they were standing in front of the Squad 6 barracks. What Renji also noticed was that the woman was short. Quite short. Around Rukia's height, maybe even a bit shorter.

Byakuya was smiling, something had never seen before. At least not the carefree, happy smile that he was wearing on his face here. It had to have been some time back. At least, before Rukia was adopted because since then he'd made sure that he knew everything he could about Byakuya.

Who was this woman?

~_About 100 years earlier~_

"Lord Kuchiki, please remember that your grandfather wants to talk to you once you finish your duties for the day. You are to meet him in the dining room at point 8 o'clock."

"Thank you Jiro, you may tell my grandfather that I will be there."

The servant bowed and Byakuya sighed. If it was another one of his grandfather's speeches on meeting the expectations of the Kuchiki clan then he would gladly miss the meeting. But it was his duty to do as his family and therefore his grandfather, the 27th leader of the Kuchiki clan, wanted. He was also pretty sure that practice today was going to be boring again. After all, all of his partners up untill now had been completely useless. They always just stood there doing absolutely nothing while he did the work of eliminating their practice enemies. He completely understood them of course though. He was a son of the Kuchiki household, one of the four great families in the soul society. They knew that they had to respect him.

With that thought he went towards the practice grounds of the academy.

"She's been through 299 different partners, none of them have stuck with her for more than a day. Who are we going to partner her up with now?" Aoi Kawano asked the room of four other teachers and organisers.

"Aurora Ukitake. She has a lot of talent, she just doesn't work well with the other students." Shiora Fujimoto sighed. "I've seen her work and talent progress at an incredible rate. Her temper just gets her when she attempts to work with other people."

"Well the ones who have been partnered up with her so far are absolutely adament that they will not work with her again." Mika Nakamura said after a couple of minutes of silence.

"That might just be due to the fact that she beats them up once they annoy her." Hibiki Kichida chuckled softly to himself.

"And with her temper that happens so often." Hayato Kato said, staring over at Hibiki with annoyance.

"Let's pull a name out of the hat." Hibiki suggested. Murmers of agreement flew around the table. "Here Kato, why don't you pull a name out." Hibiki smirked.

Hayato started to have a bad feeling about this pull-a-name-out-of-the-hat idea. He got the distinct feeling that Hibiki was messing with them or playing another one of his games. And as he looked down at the name he got a really bad feeling.

"So come on Kato, who's the lucky person who's stuck with her for today?" Mika asked gently, fearing that he might collapse in a second since he was growing paler and paler.

"Byakuya Kuckiki." He whispered, as if fearing that if he said it he would make it a reality.

The whole room was suddenly eerily silent, the only sound being the one of the arriving students outside. Hibiki simply smirked.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya sighed as he arrived at the training grounds. All the other people were looking at him with a reverance and respect again that was starting to get just slightly tedious. He walked over to the board where their professors would have put the list of who was partnered with whom today. As he drew closer to the board he greeted one of the only people who could be seen as something like a friend. Ichiro Hara was a man of noble origins too. He may not be part of one of the four great families but his family was still quite influential. Both men had grown up together and knew how annoying being a noble could somtimes be.

The principle of the partner exercise was that you were partnered with other students until you found someone you worked well with and were compatible with. That person and you would then stay together until you joined the 13 Court Guard Squads. However, most partners also stayed together in the Court Guard Squads since they knew each other's techniques and got on, something which supposedly increased the harmony within the different Squads.

"Who do you have today Ichiro?" Ichiro was the only person that Byakuya called by his first name out of all of the students. The same went for Ichiro. Neither were particularily close to the other students.

"Not Ukitake, which is a relief." Ichiro replied with a smirk. Aurora Ukitake's reputation was wide-spread and the students who had not had her primarily checked the list to see if they were lucky, or in their opinions unlucky, to have her as their partner.

"Well, who do you have?" Byakuya asked with a raised brow.

"Ayane Fukuda, today is my lucky day." Ichiro grinned at Byakuya. Ayane Fukuda was also one of the people in the class who hadn't found a partner yet. While people universally groaned when they got Aurora, only the girls groaned when they got Ayane. The guys on the other hand counted themselves the luckiest guy in the soul society since she was supposedly the prettiest girl in the class.

"And who do I have?" Byakuya asked after congratulating Ichiro.

Suddenly Ichiro paled. "You have..."

Byakuya felt a shiver travel down his spine. "Don't tell me..."

"Sorry." Ichiro looked truly sorry even though he had never had to work with her. "You have Aurora Ukitake." 

* * *

><p><em>AN: So now that you've heard about Aurora Ukitake, I hope that she has piqued your interest. Just as a side note, Hibiki Kichida is known among the professors to be particularly scheming. So the possibility of him rigging the choice is probably very high. He is after all the professor of tactics._


	3. The beginning

**Memories**

**Chapter 2 - The beginning**

Renji looked up as someone knocked at the door.

"Come in." He called out.

"Hey Renji." Rukia grinned as she walked through the door. "Do you know where ni-san is?"

"Nah, I don't. Actually I thought that you might know where he is." Renji watched her as she turned around, confused, to her brother's desk. "Captain Ukitake came in earlier and said that he took the day off."

At that Rukia's brow furrowed. "I didn't know he had taken the day off."

"Well neither did I but apparently he takes this day off every year. And now that I think about it, he does take this day off every year. I guess I just didn't notice it before Captain Ukitake mentioned it." Renji shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm..." Rukia trailed off, lost in thought as she was obviously trying to figure out why her brother had taken the day off.

Suddenly Renji had an idea. "Hey Rukia, I wanted to ask you before, do you know who this is?" Renji walked over to Byakuya's desk to get out the picture.

"Renji! What do you think you're doing?" Rukia exclaimed in shock.

"Oh come on Rukia, I'm not commiting a crime, I just wanted to ask who this person may be." Renji sighed in annoyance. "And don't tell me that you've never thought about looking in his desk."

Rukia turned bright red. "Of course not!" She snapped. "Now what did you want to ask me."

Renji grinned at her embarrassment before giving her the picture.

Rukia stared at the picture. "I've never seen that woman before, nor have I ever seen this picture." She said, completely confused.

Well then who is she? Renji asked himself.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya put on his best 'I don't care' face before heading over to the line which all the others were beginning to form. One of his professors, Aoi Kawano, began to read out the list of partners. When Ichiro's and Ayane's name were read out all the guys wolf-whistled and the girls 'ooo-ed' and 'aah-ed'. Ichiro Hara was after all considered to be one of the most attractive guys in the class. He was rich, had good looks and top of that was relatively intelligent, something which most guys in his position weren't. Well, at least not the street-smart intelligence that Ichiro possessed.

When his name and Aurora Ukitake's were read out, the guys and girls looked at him sympathetically, none of them wanting to be in his shoes. It wasn't that she was rude or anything. She just had the reputation of having a very fiery temper and the tendancy to hit people when they disagreed with her. Her twin brother, Grimmjow Ukitake, was also quite fiery and lively but he got on relatively well with all the guys. Byakuya had talked to him once or twice but had never had to actually work with him.

What didn't help Aurora or Grimmjow were the fact that they were twins, something which was incredibly rare in the soul society. On top of that, their physical appearance made them stand out even more. Grimmjow was of relatively normal height but his sister on the other hand was short, incredibly so. You wouldn't have believed anyone had they told you that she could bring down a man twice her size with ease. She was petite and that made her seem vulnerable, but that would probably be the last thing you said before you found yourself on the ground and in pain.

Both of them had strange hair, Grimmjow's being a light teal blue and spiked. Her's was silver. But that wasn't all. Her hair had golden streaks in them as well making it shine nearly angelically when hit at the right angle by the sun. Grimmjow's eyes were a light blue, around the same colour as his hair and Aurora's eyes were a startling turquoise, standing out like a saphire does among pearls. And if you looked closely enough, you could see golden flecks in her eyes as well, making them sometimes appear illuminated.

One of their other professors, Hayato Kato then went on to explain to them where to head for their training that day and wished them good luck. Byakuya didn't stay around to find out whether or not Aurora was there or not, he simply headed to the area of the training grounds that he had been asigned to. As he arrived there he saw the first hollows that he would be training against today. When he arrived they turned their heads to look at him and with an unearthly scream flew at him, shouting in rage and torment.

He raised his zanpaktou, newly aquired just three months ago, to slice it in half. With a satisfying sound the sword cut through the hollow's mask and he swung around to face the next one. With pleasure he noted that more were coming his way. Maybe this training session wouldn't be so bad after.

~.~.~.~.~

Aurora stared at the board in annoyance. Her brother would pay for not waking her up that morning. Maybe she should remind him how badly she could make his food taste if she wanted to. After all she was the only one in the house who could cook, neither Jushiro or Grimmjow could produce something which tasted remotely tasty. And they were having chili tonight, he should probably keep his water glass close to him.

Looking at the board she started to mumble. Byakuya Kuchiki. Great, she had a twenty-four carat snob who thought he was all that. Well just the thought of having to work together with that idiot made her angry. And it wasn't even nine in the morning yet. She grinned. It would be one heck of a long day for Byakuya Kuchiki.

~.~.~.~.~

"I don't like that smile of hers," Hayato Kato said to the other professors as Aurora started to make her way to the designated area. "If she hurts him then we will have to pay the consequences and wrath of the Kuchiki household."

"Oh stop being such a worrywart Kato," Hibiki said with a grin "Remember, she's beat up 299 other people, and none of their parents have complained."

"Well that's because none of the other parents are nobles, much less one of the four great families!" Hayato exclaimed in desperation.

"You have to agree though that she doesn't lack in confidence or courage." Mika said, "I mean I've seen some of the injuries that she's given those guys. They weren't pretty. And most of them were at least twice her size!"

"It's no wonder, considering that most of those guys are disrespectful, especially when it comes how they treat the girls in their class." Shiora said. She was fond of Aurora, proud that she managed to stand up for what she believed in and never backed down.

Aoi sighed. "She may have courage, but Byakuya Kuchiki is something else. He is also incredibly talented, as can only be expected from the Kuchiki household. When he will be able to summon his zanpaktou, it will surely be something stunning and powerful."

"I know." Mika looked at the retreating figure of Aurora. "He's a noble and used to getting his way. If she's not careful she might actually be in a lot of trouble this time."

"Have some faith in her." Shiora said with a smile, "After all, she may be headstrong, stubborn and have one of the shortest tempers I know, but she's also quite intelligent. She'll know when she goes too far."

"You're all so gloomy." Hibiki grinned at them. "Come on, this is going to be interesting!"

All of them, even Shiora, looked at him as if he'd gone crazy.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya was just about to swing his sword down upon the next hollow when someone landed in front of him and swung their sword down upon the hollow slicing it in half. Byakuya stared at the petite figure in front of him and figured that this most be his partner for today, Aurora Ukitake.

Turning around she somehow managed to hit him on his head with the hilt of her sword. "How dare you not wait for me before coming here!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Now that Aurora has finally made an appearance, I hope that the story will become a bit more interesting. I think you will soon notice that Aurora hitting Byakuya is quite similar to Rukia hitting Ichigo. =P =D_


	4. An interesting start to say the least

**Memories**

**Chapter 3 - An interesting start (to say the least)**

Rukia was pacing up and down the floor in the Squad 6 barracks, which, to be perfectly honest was driving Renji insane.

"Rukia, please, for the love of whatever, stop pacing!" Renji exclaimed, absolutely positive that she was going to drive him nuts.

"But we don't know where ni-san is, and he hasn't said anything about taking today off!" Rukia was looking really worried by now and even Renji had to admit that this behaviour was incredibly unusual of Byakuya. He just wasn't the type to take a day off.

"Maybe..." Rukia started.

"Rukia, I'll tell you again. No matter how many times you say that he might just be late, Captain Ukitake said that he'd taken the day off. And quite frankly, that is probably true. I mean, have you ever seen Captain Kuchiki be late?" Renji asked her with raised eyebrows.

"No." She said as she slumped in her chair.

"Why are you so worried anyway? It's not as if he's gone off to kill Ichigo or someone else." Renji muttered the last part to himself.

"Why would he want to kill Ichigo?" Rukia suddenly had a frantic look in her eye.

Crap, she'd heard that Renji thought to himself. "I'm sure he wouldn't do that. I mean Ichigo doesn't have his powers at the moment and couldn't even see Byakuya if Byakuya went to him." Renji cursed himself because she was looking really worried by now. "If you want we can go to the other lieutenants and captains and see if they know anything."

Rukia looked a lot happier at that thought. "Okay let's go then."

She's way too enthusiastic about this, Renji thought.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" Rukia asked looking at him dubiously. "You're not mocking me are you?"

"No, no, no, of course not!" Renji quickly denied her statement yet when they left the barracks he still had a bruise from where she'd hit him in the side.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya stared at the tiny figure in front of him.

"What was that for?" He exclaimed as he held his head already feeling a bruise on its way.

"What was that for?" She exclaimed. "Well, first of all that was for not waiting for me back at the field! If you already consider yourself unlucky enough to be stuck with me then you could have at least had the decency to wait for me!"

Byakuya stared at her in surprise. He honestly hadn't expected her to pick up on that.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah you heard me right. I know full well that the people only check the board to see if they are unlucky enough to be stuck with me for that round. Or in case with the guys which are still free, they also check to see if they are going to be with Ayane Fukuda. Really how you view your possible partners is positively disgusting." With that she swung her sword around to hit a hollow which had just appeared. It dissappeared it a small cloud of dust.

"I was going to get that hollow." He said in what he considered to be the Kuchiki tone of voice.

"Well tough luck Mr. I'm-so-high-and-mighty, I got it." She retorted.

"First of all I'm not 'Mr. I'm-so-high-and-mighty'..." Byakuya started, starting to feel just a tad annoyed.

"Okay then. I'm so terribly sorry Lord Kuchiki." She said in a mocking voice while giving a bow.

Byakuya felt his temper beginning to rise. "... and second of all I'm not that either."

She grinned at him evily. "Oh so you're not a Kuchiki? I wonder what you are then."

"I am a Kuchiki and I didn't mean it that way and you know it." He ground out. He knew she was goading him but the way she had said 'Lord Kuchiki', a phrase that was commonly applied to him, frustrated him to no end.

"I know what, why don't we just see who gets the most hollows. The one who does is right." He was absolutely positive that she was playing with him now.

Why shouldn't he agree to this stupid game of hers though? "Okay, let's see then. The one with the most defeated hollows is right."

She grinned at him. "Let's go."

~.~.~.~.~

From a distance away the professors watched their practice with apprehension.

"I'm not sure that hitting him on the head was the right thing to do." Hayato said looking really worried.

"It's not the worst she could have done." Mika said, trying to calm Hayato down, who looked like he might be sick.

"Yeah, remember Izo Oota?" Shiora asked.

They all winced. Izo Oota had made the mistake of insulting Aurora's friend Hinode Kono after working together with Hinode. Only few things made Aurora truly angry, one of them being when someone insulted one of her friends. She had broken two of his ribs, his right arm and he had fractured his ankle. And he was six foot three. She was only five foot two.

"Yeah, I think we all remember that. His mother never came though." Mika mused.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Hibiki grinned. "Which boy in their right mind tells their mother that they got seriously injured by a girl half their size?"

"Yup, no boy would." Aoi agreed.

"She hasn't done anything too drastic yet. And to be honest, it looks like they might just be concentrating on practice." Shiora stated what seemed to be the obvious.

To be honest though, all of them had their doubts that it would stay that way.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya winced as the cut on his arm stung again. He hadn't practiced this hard in a long time, and to be honest he wasn't quite sure why he was. He guessed it was just that the way she acted as if he was way below her that made his temper rise. And anyway, he needed to prove to her wrong. He needed to prove to her that being a Kuchiki wasn't just being a noble. A certain amount of pride went with it.

"Hee-yah!" She shouted as she sliced through another hollow.|

He growled softly to himself as he reminded himself that he needed to concentrate on the task at hand. And that was to get as many hollows as possible.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And so Byakuya and Aurora have started. As you can see the professors will also be playing quite an important role._


	5. Practice

**Memories**

**Chapter 4 - Practice**

Renji hoped that now that they were actually travelling somewhere that Rukia would calm down a bit.

"I think I remember him mentioning someone once." Rukia said quietly.

"Hmm?" Renji looked up.

"I think we should go to Captain Ukitake, I think the person in that picture is his sister." With that Rukia abruptly changed direction and Renji could do nothing but follow her.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya was breathing heavily by the time the bell rang for the end of the session at three o'clock. He was pretty sure that this was the most amount of hollows that he had defeated in a long time. At least he couldn't remember working this much to get them. And right now he was majorly ticked off because she might just have jumped in front of him at least five times to take a hollow that he had singeled out to take down.

But to his great satisfaction, she looked like she had worked her but off too to get as many as she had.

"So, how many did you get?" She looked over to him.

"Five hundred and thirty-five." He said, trying to straighten himself so that he wouldn't appear as tired as he felt.

"Hah." And that was all she replied with.

"What's the matter now." Byakuya felt his temper starting to rise again.

She grinned, "We got exactly the same amount." He stared at her. "I guess that means we're both right." With that she smirked and started to walk back towards the meeting area.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Byakuya called after her as he resisted the urge to go running after her.

"Well where do you think I'm going clever-clogs?" She replied sarcastically. "I'm going back to the meeting area to tell the professors that I'm finished for today and then I'm going to go home."

"Pfft." Byakuya looked at her disdainfully.

"So, are you going to chicken out like all the others have?" Aurora looked up at him with that smirk again. The smirk that challenged him to stop acting like he didn't care and throttle her.

"I don't 'chicken out', as you so eloquently put it." He said in his Kuchiki voice again.

He barely saw the elbow coming. Next thing he knew was that he had just had the wind knocked out of him and that he was finding it hard to breathe.

"Okay let's get one thing straight. Don't use that tone of voice on me. Yeah the one you just used right now. And second..." She grinned at him as she stopped and turned around. "Since you're the only one who's even willing to stick around for more than one round you can call me Aurora-san."

And with that she was suddenly gone. Had she just used the flash step on him? He stared around. Just great. She'd knocked the wind out of his lungs with that elbow into his side and the contest between them had made him work quite hard. He grumbled to himself. Now he'd have to walk back.

As he was doing that he suddenly wandered how Ichiro's session with Ayane had gone. Surprisingly he hadn't thought about his friend or his friend's session even once. He'd been so concentrated on his own session that he'd completely forgot about it. The session had been more interesting or productive than the ones that he'd had so far. But he knew one thing for sure.

He sure as hell wasn't backing down from her obvious challenge to be her partner. She rubbed him the wrong way and annoyed him beyond compare but he sure wasn't going to 'chicken out'. That would just be plain embarrassing. After all, he was a Kuchiki.

~.~.~.~.~

Aurora grinned as she walked over to Hinode.

"You don't look like you want to hit someone that bad. How did it go?" Hidone asked, seeing that this session had gone a bit different than the last couple.

"Considering the fact that he hasn't quit yet should mean that he'll be my partner again in two days time." Aurora grinned at her.

Hidone just stared at her in plain shock. "Oh. My. God. Of all the people in the universe that could have been the first to stick it out with you for more than one session." She laughed. "Byakuya Kuchiki of all the people."

"I know right?" Aurora laughed herself. "So how did your session go?"

Hidone grimaced. "I had the exceeding luck to be stuck with Hotaka Miura for the whole lesson." She sighed as she ticked off her name as well as Aurora's. "And he is possibly the biggest fan of that nitwit Ichiro Hara." She frowned again. "So we spent one glorious hour looking for Hara before we found him. And to be honest he didn't look particularily pleased to see us."

"Let me guess, let me guess. He was partnered with Ayane Fukuda, right?" Aurora smiled a knowing smile.

"Exactly." Hinode grinned. "And you know how all the boys react around _her_." Both friends exchanged a smile. Ayane Fukuda may have pretty looks, but her personality was horrible. To put it plainly, she was a spoilt brat who thought she had it all. Most of the girls didn't like her but had to pretend to since she ran the so called top-end social circle. Obviously neither Aurora nor Hinode belonged to that 'circle'. But neither minded. The less they had to do with Ayane, the better.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya had just signed his name out when Ichiro finally came back as well. Looking _very_ close to a certain Ayane Fukuda, who was giggling away at nearly everything he said. Byakuya sent up a short prayer, asking for someone to please not let Ichiro decide to bring Ayane along since he mainly wanted to just go into a hot spring and stay there until he had to meet his grandfather at eight.

Ichiro started to come towards him, a grin plastered on his face.

"You'll never guess how great this session just was." He grinned at Byakuya. "And I'll be working with her again next session."

Byakuya winced again as they started to head to the hot springs. Right now all he wanted was a nice, long, hot bath...

"So, how did your lesson with the devil go?" Ichiro asked.

"Not as bad as I expected." Byakuya replied. "I'm working with her again next session."

"Seriously? Are you nuts? You saw what she did to Izo Oota!" Ichiro exclaimed. Both of them winced.

"Yeah I know that. But still, you know me, I don't really quit." Byakuya said with a rueful smile.

"You and your frickin' pride Byakuya. You seriously need to learn when to not carry on with something. And she, my friend, is one of the things you do not carry on." Ichiru said as he walked besides him.

"Yeah sure." Byakuya muttered, sure that the one thing he wouldn't do, was quit.

~.~.~.~.~

"Well he survived the first session." Hayato muttered to himself.

"Yeah but I don't think he survived it without taking some damage." Mika mused.

"From the way he was walking, I'd say he took at least one elbow into the side." Shiora said.

"Since none of them quit, they're still together next session." Aori stated. All of them groaned. Apart from Hibiki of course.

Hibiki grinned, "Now it's going to get really interesting."

* * *

><p><em>AN: And so the story truly begins... =D_


	6. Meetings

**Memories**

**Chapter 5 - Meetings**

Byakuya huffed as he ran around the next corner of the Seretei. Seriously, he should remember to watch the clock closer because if he hadn't been as lucky as he had been and looked at the clock when he had, he would still be sitting in the hot springs with Ichiro and joking about the day and the teachers.

And that would have meant that he would have missed the meeting with his grandfather.

Which was supposed to start in five minutes.

Trying to go even faster than his current flash step was he rushed around the corner, nearly bumping into some of the servants from another house. They just acknowledged his hurried apology before watching him take off again around the next corner, the urgency in his face being hard to hide.

"One day..." The old woman began.

"Oh shush obaasan." The younger woman said, looking after Byakuya with a worried expression, as if he could still hear them.

"Hmmpf." The old woman didn't look happy about being told to be quiet but simply stared down the way through which Byakuya had vanished.

As Byakuya drew closer to the Kuchiki residence he saw Jiro stand at the back entrance with a worried expression on his face. Relief washed over that face as soon as he spied Byakuya rushing towards him and silently opened the gate.

"I was worried that you'd forgotten sir." The servant said. The relief made him appear eighteen, instead of the twenty-five years that he usually appeared as.

"I simply... forgot... the time... while... in the... hot springs." Byakuya managed to get out, still having some difficulties with catching his breath after the long run through the Seretei.

"Well you're here now with just minutes to spare." Jiro stated calmly, while leading Byakuya towards his room. "And I have already laid everything out so now all we have to do is get you into the proper attire and then your grandfather shouldn't be able to notice that you just arrived sir."

Byakuya smiled thankfully at Jiro. "Let's get started right away then." He said, putting on the regal tone that he normally adopted when talking to other people, especially within the Kuchiki household. Jiro was one of the few people who Byakuya way comfortable around and whom he trusted. Jiro had after all saved his hide numerous times because he had simply forgotten to look at the nearest clock as he had just now.

Byakuya sighed uncomfortably as he was forced into the formal attire that he had to wear whenever he went to a meeting with his grandfather. Since he was the supposed heir to the Kuchiki household, he also had to attend all the functions and meetings that the heir may be required at.

In his opinion though, his father should have been the heir, not him. His father may only be the third seat of Squad 6, but he was still a formidable opponent in battle and he was a Kuchiki. But no, his grandfather had decided long ago that in his eyes Byakuya's father was too weak, had too little spiritual pressure. No matter that everyone else might disagree on the topic of Sojun Kuchiki, his grandfather was adament that Sojun shouldn't lead the family after him.

And so the task would fall to him one day, Lord Byakuya Kuchiki, first-born son of Sojun and Asami Kuchiki. He sighed. If only you didn't have to wear all this formal attire, then maybe the task that his grandfather had chosen him to do would not be so hard.

"Uff, that was a close call sir." Jiro said, wiping his hand across his brow while appraising his attire. "It seems that everything is in place, so now I would advise that you hurry to the meeting room, after all, we don't want your grandfather to find out that you only arrived ten minutes ago."

"Thank you Jiro." Byakuya nodded graciously before starting to make his way towards the meeting room. Yay, he thought sarcastically, this is going to be a real joy.

~.~.~.~.~

Aurora sighed as she stood in the kitchen of their home, frowning as she noticed the deficiency in edible objects. Great so neither Jushiro nor Grimmjow had bothered to tell her that they were low on food. And after a long day in Squad 13, trying to organise the chaos that nearly always seemed to be present there, her older brother wouldn't be in the kind of condition that allowed him to go hunting for food in the Seretei.

And her nitwit of a twin brother would probably be at the hot springs, soaking himself after six hours of training. To be fair, they had just started the whole partner concept in the academy and they had only been at the academy for one year. As far as she knew, the whole partner concept was something completely new, only having been instated into the curriculum of the academy five years ago. So it could be viewed as an experiment of sorts.

Locking the door behind her she walked across the grounds of the Squad 13 barracks, smiling and waving to the soul reapers which worked and lived there. For the past thirty years she and her two brothers had lived here, ever since they had pulled the wrath of the elders of the Ukitake family upon themselves.

Jushiro had always had a strong spiritual pressure, despite being ill often in his childhood. She and her brother had not been that much different. Their spiritual pressure was strong also, despite the fact that they attempted to conceal most of it. So when Jushiro had decided to join the Academy, she and Grimmjow had decided to go along with him. Neither of them liked the formalities that came along with being a noble and in becoming soul reapers, they felt that they might be able to help and repay the people in the Rukongai, who had been kind to them back before they had been adopted into the Ukitake household.

But that decision had been frowned upon by the elders of the clan. They had wanted Jushiro to take over the leadership of the clan and concentrate on that and that only. They thought that if he became a soul reaper then he would become too preoccupied with the affairs there and forget the duties that came with being the leader of the clan.

But Jushiro had stood firm in his decision and as soon as he had left the household, they had come along with him. Despite only appearing to be ten years of age, both of them knew how to cope outside of a well-run household better than he did. And despite not being able to join the academy yet because of their young age, they watched and waited until they were old enough and able to qualify and enter.

After Jushiro had first been promoted to lieutenant of Squad 13 and later captain, they moved to the Squad 13 barracks with him, nobody minding their prescence. And the fact that she could cook was an asset since the person who had been cooking until then hadn't been the best suited to the job. So she and Grimmjow had fit in easily, doing small jobs around the barracks. Fixing things, cooking, cleaning and sometimes even helping to look after someone who wasn't feeling so well made them loved members of the community within Squad 13.

Grinning at Kaien Shiba and waving to him as she left the Squad 13 barracks, she made her way towards the shops which were situated near the western end of the Seretei. Using flash step to get there, she knew that she didn't have much time before all the members would start to get hungry and start looking for food.

She was dressed in a simple light blue kimono with slits down the side, making it easier for her to run down the streets and over the roof-tops. She had tied her her up in a loose bun so that it wouldn't get in her way, clipping it back with a cherry blossom clip. Cherry blossoms had always been her favourite flower for a reason she couldn't determine herself. It was just the way that they smelled so sweet and of spring, it reminded her of a time when all she had been waiting for was spring, for a fresh new start. A chance to forget the past and to begin anew.

Smiling a secret smile to herself she landed on a street situated just around the corner from the market and composed herself before walking towards it.

She was instantly hit by wave of smells, fresh apples, baking cakes and fresh bread. Nobody at the academy would ever guess that she could be found at a place like this, and she intended to keep it that way.

* * *

><p><em>AN: First of all I'd like to thank **EveryDei** for their review, it's greatly appreciated.  
>I decided to start looking more towards the past of Aurora and Byakuya here and how their respective lives are quite similar yet completely different. Of course, the last sentence here indicates that someone will find out about it. =D<em>


	7. Mornings

**Memories**

**Chapter 6 - Mornings**

Byakuya yawned heavily as he watched the meeting proceed. It wasn't his fault that he was as tired as he was. After all, the day of training with Aurora Ukitake, as well as the mood that these kinds of meetings portrayed couldn't do anything _but_ make someone tired. Especially him since he had been to so many of them.

Staring across the table he prayed for the current member of the family council to hurry up already and finish. He wanted to go to bed, his body aching. In that respect he envied his brother and sister. Neither of them ever had to sit through tonnes of meetings nor did they have to think about all the topics talked about, needing to be able to formulate their own opinions of the matters at hand.

Two hours had passed since the meeting had started and it was well past ten o'clock. He looked towards the council member again. Couldn't he just hurry up?

As if answering some silent prayer of his, the council member concluded their argument and finished. Byakuya noticed with a certain amount of satisfaction that he was not the only one yawning. Quite a few of the other members sitting around the table were yawning as well, displaying either their fatique, their disinterest, or both.

Looking over to his grandfather he noticed the annoyed look in his eyes and grimaced to himself. Once all the people attending this meeting were gone, his grandfather would be sure to offer a lecture on how people nowadays were unable to behave properly in such meetings, and how he should never take an example from them, et cetera, et cetera. 'Bla bla bla' was all it was to him.

Sitting up straight he nodded to all the people leaving and graciously bid them good-bye. Seeing that his grandfather was busy elsewhere with another member, he started to make his way out of them room. Just when he had started to think that he might have escaped from his grandfather's clutches, he heard his grandfather's voice ring out behind him.

"Byakuya!" His grandfather called, gesturing for him to come over. Byakuya grimaced before turning back around and smiling pleasantly as he walked towards his grandfather.

"Yes ojiisan?" He asked politely, feeling everything but.

"Come and take a walk with me, I want to tell you something about the meeting." Seeing the oncoming speech in his grandfather's eyes, which was sure to take at least half an hour, Byakuya felt despair grip him momentarily before he composed himself and walked alongside his grandfather into the garden.

~.~.~.~.~

An hour later Byakuya closed the doors behind him, thanking the gods that his grandfather's attention had been diverted. A sudden problem had arisen on one of the Kuchiki estates, one of the ones which was further out in the countryside.

He plopped himself down onto his bed and sighed. Quite frankly, in his opinion anyway, his grandfather was putting too much pressure on him. No person of his age should be burdened with so many responsibilities. But then again, it wasn't as if his opinion mattered anyway. No one was interested in what he thought of all these things. And so he had to keep these thoughts to himself as he thought about how he could possibly make it seem acceptable that he would fall asleep in a few seconds.

Yawning he decided to ignore acceptable and just give in to sleep. It wasn't that bad after all. And his bed was decidedly the most comfortable thing around at the moment. And to his defence, he was very, very tired.

And so his eyelids dropped and it wasn't three seconds until his breathing had evened out and he was sleeping quite blissfully.

~.~.~.~.~

"Lord Kuchiki... Lord Kuchiki!" A voice penetrated Byakuya's wandering thoughts and dreams. "Lord Kuchiki, please wake up!" The voice was growing slightly more frantic now. With what he felt to be a great effort he opened his eyes.

"Leave me alone." He mumbled, probably incoherently, at the figure towering above him before turning back onto his side and closing his eyes again. It was way too early to be getting up, way too early.

Jiro looked down at Byakuya with a sigh. It was true that waking him up was a pain. Byakuya hated getting up and hated getting up early even more. It was a surprise that he had managed to get up for classes punctually over the past few weeks. But today seemed to be different. Normally Byakuya would be up by now. And if he wasn't he would be by the time that Jiro came in and woke him up.

Shaking his head softly Jiro wondered what had happened yesterday. Yesterday Byakuya had come home looking exhausted and it had been admirable that he had managed to somehow make it through the following family conference as well as his grandfather's lectures without falling asleep. That was probably due to the insufferable pride that Byakuya possessed though. The boy would never let fatigue or annoyance show. He was simply too proud to do so.

Although he should probably stop calling him a boy. That 'boy' was eighteen and loathed to be looked at as if he were still a child. Ironic wasn't it then that he was displaying such childish behaviour right now. And as much as Jiro wanted to let Byakuya have his well-deserved sleep, he knew he couldn't let him. Because today it was Lady Yua's birthday. She was turning the great age of fourteen years and no one in the family would be allowed to miss out on this one. No one. Which was also why Byakuya had been excused from the academy and lessons today. The academy had been very accommodating. It had had to be.

"I'm really sorry Lord Kuchiki but you have to wake up." Jiro shook Byakuya softly again. "It's Lady Yua's birthday today and you really have to get up." Byakuya blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden flood of light that was entering his eyes.

"It's her birthday today?" His eyes widened.

"Yes my lord, she is turning fourteen today." Jiro looked slightly amused. It seemed as if Byakuya had forgotten, something that would surely prick his pride.

"Oh..." Jiro never heard the rest of Byakuya's sentence since Byakuya had suddenly gotten up very quickly and started to walk, no run, towards the bathroom. "Please get my clothes ready!" He called back at Jiro and Jiro smiled as the bathroom door crashed shut behind Byakuya.

Making the bed and then laying down the festive clothes that were required of Byakuya that day Jiro reflected. Life at the Kuchiki mansion sure was interesting. He had only been here for the past seven months but during the course of that time he had come to realise several things. For one the Kuchiki household was run underneath the iron fist of Ginrei Kuchiki, captain of Squad 6, and nothing ever happened without him knowing about it. And probably preventing about half of it too. Secondly was that Ginrei viewed his own son in an extremely low light.

Which, honestly, nobody really understood. Sojun Kuchiki was an honourable man, a man whom you could easily trust and laugh with. All Ginrei saw though was a son he termed to be too weak, a son unworthy of holding the Head of the Kuchiki Family title. That relationship had only improved a tiny bit when Byakuya had been born before rapidly deteriorating again. Sojun didn't want to burden his son with the responsibilities, he wanted Byakuya to have some fun. Ginrei disagreed and from this their constantly frosty relationship only grew worse.

Thirdly was that while Byakuya had inherited his mother's and father's kind nature, despite hiding it beneath a frosty mask, his siblings had not. His sister, Yua, was relatively okay, she wasn't horrible but she was arrogant and relatively spoilt. She was only ever kind around her family, everyone else was viewed with disdain. And that led to point number four. Never try and converse with Kenji Kuchiki. All that would come out of that was that you would be treated with an arrogance that bordered far too close on rude and a number of new insults which you could count towards your name. Kenji got on extremely well with his grandfather and that was about it. Byakuya avoided his sixteen year-old brother like the pest.

With a family as discordant as that it was no wonder that quite a few servants quit after a couple of weeks. Enter any other relations or family members and it was a wonder that they all hadn't gone crazy yet. Although, Jiro thought, he certainly wouldn't be able to tell if he was crazy or not anymore anyway, he'd been here too long in comparison with others.

At that moment Byakuya dashed through the door, his hair still dripping slightly. Quickly he got dressed, Jiro helping him with the more complicated parts to his festive costume.

"Is it all good and presentable?" Byakuya asked, not wanting to displease his grandfather through an inorderly costume.

"It's all as it should be, my lord." Jiro bowed low.

"Thank you Jiro. You are dismissed." Byakuya nodded towards him with a regal nod while Jiro bowed once more before making his way out of the door.

Byakuya sighed as the door shut gently behind Jiro. He was in no mood to be spending any time with his family. And in this occasion he'd have to deal with Kenji again and the mere thought of that brought around a fresh wave of exhaustion. His bones already ached and the fact that he had had to get up early only increased that feeling.

Heaving a world-weary sigh he made his way out of the door and across the garden to the front gate where his litter, sedan chair or whatever you wanted to call it would be waiting for him.

~.~.~.~.~

"Grimmjow you lazy arse, get up!" Ari shouted at her brother. Wrinkling her brow she muttered. Her brother had come home last night slightly drunk. She knew that he could hold his liquor relatively well, not as good as her, but pretty damn close. Which of course meant that he had been drinking a lot. Probably just for the fun of it. At least she hoped that. If he started drinking out of competition then they were all in danger.

Sighing she decided she'd had enough of his behaviour and walked into the kitchen. Jushiro wasn't waking up either which meant that he had been out at one of the few bars in the district with Shunsui. Grumbling to herself she started to fill up a bowl with cold water and then went on to fill up a second. The devilish spark in her eyes increased. She knew she shouldn't let her temper get the best of her but she couldn't help it. She just couldn't.

Balancing the bowls perfectly she knew that her temper and her hair were probably what was the most well-known about her but she didn't care. Right now in this moment, at this time, her brothers deserved to be woken up the way in which she was waking them up.

Grinning diabolically she stepped into the bedroom. The Squad 13 barracks weren't the largest and weren't meant to accommodate for any other members besides the soul reapers. So all of them slept in the same bedroom, making the upcoming task of unpleasantly pulling her brothers back into reality so much easier.

Sighing softly she shook her head. She and Grimmjow should be living in the dorms of the Academy but they had never liked it there much so they had requested to stay in the Squad 13 barracks. The instructor had agreed. But that probably had something to do with the fact that their brother was the Squad 13 captain. Normally she hated people who used their positions to give them advantages in any kind of situation but even she had to admit that it was darned useful on certain occasions.

With what could only be correctly termed as an evil grin she stepped towards her brothers beds. With a splash she threw the water onto their heads. Spluttering they both came up like drowning men, cursing heavily underneath their breaths.

Looking up they saw their sister standing there, looking extremely satisfied with herself. The polite metaphor they would have used would have been that she looked like a cat who had just gotten a tub of full cream. Sadly, they weren't having particularily polite thoughts at the moment though. In fact, they were rather impolite thoughts.

"Ari..." Grimmjow began, feeling a cursed headache beginning to form. Jushiro just grumbled before turning back onto his side and pulling the blanket over his head. Ari nearly laughed at his ridiculous behaviour. Physically he looked like he was in his mid-twenties. He should at least behave the age he looked.

"Have you guys forgotten already?" She asked and with her hands on her hips she looked a lot like a mother.

"What?" Grimmjow bit off, not trusting himself to say anymore. Insulting her would only bring a considerable amount of pain to him. Jushiro mumbled something which sounded a lot like 'sleep'.

She cocked her eyebrows. "So you have forgotten huh?" She shook her head and turned around. "Well I just wanted to remind you that we all have a day off today... And we were so looking forward to having some fun..." She trailed off as she stalked out of the room in mock indignation.

Jushiro sat up slowly. "It would be extremely stupid to aggravate her and just stay in bed, right?" He turned to Grimmjow, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Yeah..." He muttered, not feeling like he wanted to go anywhere anytime soon. "She'd probably be really annoyed and hurt. After all, it is our day off..." He shook his head and then clutched it as pain shot through it. "Bad idea..." He muttered, not believing how stupid he had been to do that with his head in the condition in which it was.

"No point in making her wait then." Jushiro got up slowly. "Come on, we have to be ready in twenty minutes or she'll come in with even colder water."

"As if that could be possible..." Grimmjow muttered, intending for it to be said within his head, not out loud.

"Oh it is." At that voice both of them turned around and looked in horror at the twin bowls that Ari was holding in her hands. "It so is."

* * *

><p><em> AN: I would like to apologise that this chapter took so long to come out. I was a bit busy over the past few weeks so my writing went on a short hiatus, but hopefully I'll be able to update more regularily now. =)  
><em>

_ I would like to than **EveryDei** for their reviews on chapters 5 and 6. That you enjoy my story is great to hear, I wasn't sure whether people would like it or not considering that we don't know an awful lot about Byakuya's past. =)  
><em>

_ What I'd also like to prematurely apologise for is that Byakuya may appear a bit OOC in these parts but that's just how I imagine a younger (and possibly more immature... =P =D) him. I'm writing this to try and find out why he became the way he did because I believe that he really can't be all that unsentimental... hopefully. =D_


	8. Important News

**Memories**

**Chapter 7 - Important News**

Renji and Rukia arrived at the Squad 13 barracks more than slightly flushed. After all, doing the flash step for such a distance required a certain amount of skill, but even more importantly, stamina. And that was something Renji was sure he didn't possess this early in the morning, no matter how important the occasion might be.

Rukia of course was already running towards Captain Ukitake's rooms. Where she got her energy from he didn't know but he knew that she'd always been like this. Taking a second longer he heaved in a huge breath and then began to run after her. Why he was doing this again he wasn't certain. Okay, maybe he was. Seeing Lord Byakuya Kuchiki smiling like that, even if just on a photo, was enough to pique a large portion of his curiosity.

Skidding around the corner and into the room he already saw Rukia down on the floor infront of Captain Ukitake in a respectful bow. Getting down beside her, he repeated the action and looked up as Rukia began to explain in short and breathless sentences as to why they were there.

"So as you can see Captain, we were wondering where nii-san was as well as who this person might be." Rukia held out the picture to Captain Ukitake and he took it tentavitely.

"I'm not sure you should be..." Captain Ukitake said as he looked at the picture. "I didn't know he still had this." He said softly, a sad smile gracing his features.

"Captain?" Rukia asked, unsure with her captain's sudden display of emotion.

"The person here on the picture is Ari, my sister." Captain Ukitake said suddenly, breaking the awkward silence that had been hanging in the air.

"You had a sister?" Renji was surprised, he'd never heard of Captain Ukitake possessing any family.

"Yeah. She died about sixty years ago though." He said softly, staring off into space again. Nobody knew just how much he missed her. It had been a truly long time.

"I'm sorry sir." Rukia hung her head sadly. "I didn't know."

"No no it's fine." Captain Ukitake scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion. "It's just that it's been a long time. I'm just surprised that your brother still has this. Although I probably shouldn't be." He chuckled softly.

"Why's that sir?" This bizarre behaviour by both captains was seriously interesting Renji now.

"Because she was Captain Kuchiki's partner for over twenty years." Captain Ukitake was smiling again now. Rukia heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing her captain looking so sad had caught her off guard.

"Partner?" Renji voiced her unanswered question.

"Oh yeah, you won't know about this." Captain Ukitake smiled apologetically. "But back then, around about a hundred years ago, Head Captain Yamamoto had introduced this new concept of having a specific and permanent partner once you entered the academy. I'm not sure why he stopped with that concept though, I thought it was working extremely well."

"She was his partner then..." Rukia muttered, staring down at the laughing woman in the picture.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya looked around the table in exasperation. The scene of his sister's birthday was playing out exactly as he thought it would. Or maybe even worse. No, definitely worse.

It had started off alright. He had arrived at the restaurant with his litter about the same time as his cousin, Tsukiko. She was one of the few people he could count among the people he felt truly comfortable around. They had spent about twenty minutes in the reserved dining room of the restaurant before the rest of his family had started to arrive.

Tsukiko's parents, his aunt and uncle, had arrived next. Tsukiko's mother was his father's sister and was extremely kind. His uncle on the other hand wasn't the nicest of men, so he and Tsukiko had avoided too much conversation with him. Next were his two cousins, Tsukiko's brothers, Yuichi and Yuji. Yuichi and Yuji were literally like black and white, like day and night, despite being twins. While Yuji was the white, kind and gentle, Yuichi was the black, arrogant and uncaring. Yuichi had always resented Byakuya, and resented his mother not being a man. Otherwise he would have had the coveted position of being the next Head of the Kuchiki clan. What didn't seem to be clear to him though was that Byakuya would relatively gladly abandon the position and give to him so that the strain on his still quite young shoulders could be reduced.

And so a strain between the two of them had already been in the air and Tsukiko and Yuji just watched uncomfortably while Yuichi glared openly at Byakuya while Byakuya retaliated with an icy and haughty glare himself.

Things had really started to deteriorate when the rest of his family had arrived. His grandfather and father were annoyed at each other as always and while his mother was attempting to ease the tension a bit and improve the situation, something he found truly admirable, his sister was complaining non-stop about her dress, the litter and the restaurant. Byakuya winced as he surveyed the scene. Maybe he should just have feigned an illness and stayed at home. That would have been much better. At least a lot better than the discord here.

And that was when the proverbial final spark had been added to the flame. The last and definitely most final straw. His brother had arrived. Kenji had immediately sat down without a word and then began to verbally take apart the restaurant and the staff, as well as his litter carriers, in a most ungraceful and indelicate manner. Byakuya had wanted to stab Kenji's eyes out with a knife. Or maybe a fork would do the job too. Either way, he wanted to do something to shut his brother up.

Suddenly he felt a slight pressure on his arm. Looking up in surprise he saw Tsukiko holding his arm. In her eyes he was sure that he could see an angry spark.

"Grandfather?" Tsukiko turned to their grandfather with a slight smile on his face. Surprised he realised that she was deliberately making it look forced.

"Yes?" His grandfather looked at them pointedly, obviously not enjoyed at being interrupted by them when he had just been talking to Kenji so animatedly about the flaws of the restaurant and its staff.

"I am feeling slightly ill and stuffy. Would you mind Byakuya escorting me out to get some fresh air?" Her face and voice were perfectly innocent but innerly Byakuya was jumping up and down in joy at the prospect of escaping from all of this tension.

"You may." His grandfather nodded regally before turning to the waiter that had just arrived with the second course. Five courses had at least been ordered for the occasion and Byakuya already felt slightly full. He wouldn't need any more food after the second and third course, and maybe he could miss those thanks to the opportunity that Tsukiko had just created.

Helping her up just for show he escorted her out onto the terrace. Once there both of them plonked themselves onto some chairs and took in a deep breath of cleansing air before releasing it and relaxing a bit.

"I thought we'd never get out of there." Tsukiko muttered, obviously quite happy with her devious little plan.

"Yeah, same here." Byakuya replied, feeling even more tired than he had two hours earlier.

"How long do you think we have before it is deemed inacceptable?" Tsukiko quirked an eyebrow at him, not even bothering to hide her amusement.

"I think fifteen, maybe twenty minutes." Byakuya replied, closing his eyes while speaking.

"That's good." He heard her sigh. "That's at least a whole course, maybe even the start of a second."

"Nobody who knows you would guess that you are this devious Tsukiko." He smiled at that, his cousin really was a jewel among people. Sadly she didn't possess any spiritual energy that could be termed as enough.

"And nobody who knows you would guess that you are just as glad to get out of there as I am, maybe even more so." At that statement of her's he chuckled. He couldn't help himself. Her comment had hit the proverbial hammer on the head but that wasn't the point. The point being that her statement was true, however loath he was to admit it.

"Pfft." Was his reply, he just couldn't work up the energy to reply with anything meaningful or clever. As he sat there his mind drifted to the next day where he would have to go into the training arena with Aurora Ukitake again. He winced at the thought but for some strange paradoxal reason, he was excited as well. It was true that she had challenged him greatly the day before, he'd had to work more than he had had to in the past three months since joining the 'partner' training program which had been designed by Head Captain Yamamoto. And she irked him to no end, he had had the constant feeling yesterday that she had been looking down on him, something that he hadn't come across before and found extremely irritating.

"Byakuya?" He looked up as Tsukiko said his name, something about her tone of voice made him suspect that something was wrong.

"Yeah?" He quirked his eyebrow at her, wondering why she suddenly had such a serious air about her.

"You know a guy named Hisashi Ohayashi? He's in your class I think." She sounded unsure and that caught Byakuya off-guard. His cousin normally wasn't someone who sounded unsure or even vulnerable and right now she was sounding both.

Racking his brains as best as he could he finally found the vague outline of the face that belonged to the name and remembered him as one of the people who had had the 'pleasure' of working with both him and Aurora. He knew that most of the people let him just do the work so Hisashi hadn't stayed with him for a second round and he also vaguely remembered him as one of Aurora's more vicious victims. Apparently he'd gone home with a broken arm but not much worse for the wear. And that wasn't hard to imagine considering the force with which she'd elbowed him in the side with. He'd probably insulted her in some manner, if he'd insulted a friend or family member he'd have ended like Izo Oota. And he would have definitely remembered that.

"Yeah I think I do." He said as he turned towards her. "I think he was my partner one or two months ago, didn't last more than a round though. Why do you ask?" He questioned her trying to look her in the eyes. Something was definitely wrong since she was avoiding his.

"I'm engaged to marry him." Byakuya literally felt his jaw dropping. There was no way between heaven and earth that his cousin could actually be getting married. That was as close to impossible as it could get. She'd just told him three weeks ago that she'd sworn off marriage for good.

Looking up at him she couldn't help but crack a smile. "You know that you look absolutely ridiculous, right?" She allowed herself a small grin. "Ojiisan organised it. He told me last night before his meeting with the family council."

Byakuya felt himself break out of his daze. "But why would he do that?" He felt his voice rise slightly and immediately forced himself to calm down.

"Good connections, his family isn't one of the four main houses but is still pretty wealthy." She looked sad. "When I asked him whether I had the option of refusing or not he told me straight to my face that there was no option and that if I should try to get out of the marriage then he would disinherit me and throw me out onto the streets."

Byakuya felt his anger start to rise. Damn his grandfather and those commandeering ways. Damn that everyone in the family bent to his will. Damn it all. He stared out across into the sky, not trusting himself to speak in case he would erupt. And that would indeed be extremely bad.

~.~.~.~.~

Humming happily to herself Ari strode out across the court yard of the Squad 13 barracks, throwing an occasional glance behind herself to check whether or not they were still following her. Both of them still were. She grinned broadly. They were both hung-over as hell but that didn't matter to her. They had promised her that on this day off she would get to choose what they did and she always held them to their word.

Looking at the figure flouncing past him and the two absolutely miserable men treading the path behind her Kaien Shiba grinned. No one would guess that this small bundle of energy had the power to bring those two to their knees and do her bidding.

They had probably both been out drinking last night and were now nursing a fairly large headache by the looks of it. From experience he knew that the sunlight that was pouring down from the sky right now was death to their over-alert senses. Their eyes were probably stinging too.

Chuckling softly he stared at Aurora as she stopped to talk to some of the other members of the Squad. Despite all of their complaining though, Kaien knew that both Grimmjow and his captain would put their lives on the line if she were ever threatened. Right at the beginning when he had arrived at the barracks Aurora had explained with the wide innocent eyes of a ten-year old that in some ancient language her name meant light and that she wanted to be a light to her brothers and the other members of the Squad here.

And looking over at her laughing figure Kaien knew that she was. He had heard the rumours of her behaviour at the Academy of course. One could hardly miss the rumours. But he knew that that was just her way of testing of whom she could allow herself to get close to. That was her form of expressing emotion. Through action. Kaien winced. Although hitting someone might not always be the most effective way to bring this across. He still had a bruise in his side where she had quite viciously brought her elbow home after teasing her about being short. But she had laughed while doing it so he knew that she was simply playing in her own fashion. He couldn't deny that it seriously hurt though.

"And what brings you two owls out of your nest?" He called over at her brothers, his captain making a pitiful picture of himself.

Both of them turned to scowl at him. "What do you think?" Grimmjow muttered sarcastically.

"We promised her that today she would get to choose what we did." His captain grumbled.

Kaien couldn't help the smirk from spreading across his face. "And you two extremely clever people forgot all about that last night, didn't you?" The only reply he got were mutterings and grumbles, nothing coherent. He knew he had literally hit the bull's eye of their problem. They were probably embarrassed that they had forgotten, and were more than unwilling to show it.

"Well have fun anyway!" He called after them which only earned him a glare from Grimmjow, an exasperated look from his captain and a cheery wave and 'thank you!' from Ari. He grinned as he went back inside to do the paperwork as well as trying his best to avoid the third seats, Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentaro Kotsubaki. They were always squabbeling and he wasn't in the mood to get pulled into one of their eternal fights or their teasing for that matter.

Their family certainly was a strange one but most definitely a loving one he thought. That reminded him, his sister Kukaku wasn't any less scary than Ari, to him even more so. He should probably go and visit her on his day off otherwise he might be on the receiving end of one of her bombs. She'd just discovered her love for fire and explosions and he felt thoroughly sorry for his brother Ganju who was having to put up with them day in and day out. That painful thought made him wince.

~.~.~.~.~

Laughing Ari turned to her brothers."Come on guys, can it be that difficult to look a bit happier? After all we all managed to get our day off on the same day!" She grinned widely.

"Yeah, with a headache the size of a mountain it is." Grimmjow muttered darkly, but that only earned him a poke in the side. By the looks of it she was in too good a mood to actually try and make him notice that she didn't appreciate his comment. That was a first. Both Jushiro and Grimmjow looked at her questioningly. To be honest they hadn't noticed it until now, due to their insufferable headache, but she was in a stunningly good mood.

Deciding to keep all comments to themselves until they reached the restaurant at which they were having lunch today they made their way through the streets, Ari animatedly chatting about how the market had been the day before. During the course of their journey to the restaurant they thus found out that the lady who sold the fruit which they always ate had given birth to a healthy baby boy, that the scramp Takeo was starting to develop spiritual pressure and that the four great houses were hosting some kind of ball in five months time. She had also somehow managed to find out that this ball also served as the partner's ball that had been introduced three years ago and that they would also have to attend. Coincidentally the Ukitake family had also been asked to attend but had respectfully declined with the excuse that they had already planned an excursion elsewhere at that exact time.

By the end of the thirty minutes Jushiro and Grimmjow were certain that gossip amongst the servants was much worse than gossip amongst the higher classes since servants managed to get access to _every_ single piece of possible information in the whole Soul Society and beyond. Well maybe apart from state secrets that was but from the sound of it, Jushiro was sure that given enough time the servants would find out all about those too.

Reaching the restaurant they made a special order. A type of celebration order since days like these, days when they all had free, didn't come around very often. Once seated and satisfied that the food would come Jushiro and Grimmjow both turned to Ari.

"Okay, spit it out imoutosan." Jushiro said as he turned to Ari. "What has you so happy that you haven't even hit one of us properly today."

"Are you forgetting the water this morning?" Grimmjow muttered to Jushiro.

"It could have been worse." His brother muttered back. "She could have used hot coals or something like that instead."

"Okay, point taken." Grimmjow winced as he thought of the possible hot coals on his face. In his mind it wasn't a pretty sight.

Never one known to mince her words Ari grinned right back. "I actually have a person who has managed to stay with me for more than one round. He hasn't backed off like all of the others. I have actually met someone who hasn't run off screaming in the other direction."

Both brothers just sat there, gaping at her with their mouths wide open. She looked at them with amusement written all over her face. "You look like demented Koi." She said chuckling as they quickly shut their mouths again.

"Wow, this really is a reason for celebrating." Jushiro shook his head in wonder. So miracles did happen.

"So... who's the un... ouch!" Grimmjow shot daggers at his brother as he rubbed his side. "Um, lucky fellow who's not backed down?"

"Byakuya Kuchiki." She said as she took a bite from the food that had just arrived.

Any onlooker could have sworn to see a rainbow underneath the drink that Jushiro spat across the table. Grimmjow started choking on some noodles. Jushiro quickly slapped him on the back, fearing for his brother's health. As well as his hearing.

"Who?" Both of them exclaimed.

"Like I said, Byakuya Kuchiki." She said, way too calmly for their tastes as she continued to eat her ramen. Her appetite was legendary amongst the Squad since for a person so small she astoundingly large amounts. That was probably where she got her large amounts of energy from.

"I'm doomed." Grimmjow said as he hit his head against the table, instantly regretting the action afterwards.

"Maybe Head Captain Yamamoto would let me quit. I mean I am ill a lot of the time, right?" Jushiro asked the small goldfish which had been happily swimming around in the decorative bowl on the table.

"Why would you be doomed?" She pointed her chopsticks at Grimmjow, "And you have to resign?" She looked at Jushiro pointedly.

"He may have survived yesterday but how long do you think he'll hold against your wrath. You hate the nobility, not to mention most of mankind!" Grimmjow exclaimed, feeling like he was summing her up perfectly.

"A bit harsh." She muttered, taking another portion of noodles into her mouth. What worried her brothers though was that she wasn't even trying to deny it.

"And he is the heir to the Kuchiki household! One of the four great houses!" Jushiro tried to lower his voice. In an urgent whisper he continued. "And his father and grandfather are both Lieutenant and Captain of Squad 6 respectively. Do you know what will happen if you seriously injure him?" His expression could be termed as more than slightly worried.

"If I do, then it's his own goddamn fault." She retorted, looking sligtly annoyed. Her brothers groaned, knowing their sister, with a guy like him, it wouldn't take a long time for her fuse to blow. And then they would have to pay for doing something to a guy like him.

"Maybe I can convince him to back out..." Grimmjow muttered, both brothers setting their hopes on the fact that he was probably a clever and intelligent guy. He would know that he should back out of this partnership, right?

* * *

><p><em> AN: I'd like to thank everyone out there who is reading it and enjoying it. At least I hope you are... =P =) Please do me the honour of leaving a review, whether the review may be good or bad, any reaction to my story and plot would be great to have. =)  
><em>

_ And so the plot thickens... Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. Not much is known about Captain Ukitake's family nor is that much known about Byakuya's. Please inform me if I have made any errors what-so-ever concerning names and dates... I haven't been able to find that much information on their families which was why I decided to explore them in this chapter. Please R and R! =D_


	9. Training

**Memories**

**Chapter 8 - Training**

"So your sister and nii-san were partners?" Rukia turned with questioning eyes towards her captain.

"I didn't know he'd even be able to get along with anyone, let alone be partnered up with someone." Renji muttered to himself, once again intending the comment to remain a part of his internal monologue. It got him a dirty look from Rukia along with a painful kick in the shins. Thankfully she hadn't hit him in the side again. It still hurt slightly from where she had hit him before.

Captain Ukitake chuckled. "Oh no, you've got it all wrong." Seeing their doubtful looks he chuckled again before coughing harshly.

"Captain!" Rukia exclaimed as she moved to his side.

"No no I'm fine. It's just a small cough." Captain Ukitake smiled at them. That was not just a small cough, Renji thought, but this time he managed to keep it to himself.

"Yes your brother isn't the easiest man to work with but you must consider that this was about a hundred years ago." He smiled at their confused expressions. "It was actually more of a wonder that he didn't quit while working with my sister, she was quite hard to work with." He smiled at the photograph in his hands, obviously lost deep in thought.

"Even harder than Captain Kuchiki?" Renji asked dubiously, not able to believe that there was someone out there that managed to outdo his captain in that category. Okay, Ichigo came pretty damn close but he was still a nice guy despite his stubborn streak. While Byakuya was well... Byakuya.

Tearing himself out of his memories Captain Ukitake smiled again. "By miles." He said. "She had the reputation back then of being the worst person to work with. Why, people would check the board simply to make sure that they wouldn't be partnered up with her."

"That's hard to imagine sir." Rukia said as she looked down at the picture. "She looks so happy here."

"A rare moment my dear, a very rare moment." Captain Ukitake shook his head in wonder. "Really I think at the start it was just their obstinacy and stubborness that prevented them from quitting. In the end they did come to care for each other greatly but believe me it was a long and stony way until they got there. A _very_ stony way." He accented, lost, once again that day, in the oncoming rush of memories.

~.~.~.~.~

To say that Byakuya had a bad mood would be understating the situation. His mood was positively foul. After the mere twenty minute reprieve on the balcony, where he had gotten those horrific news, Tsukiko and he had had to go back to that awful event which had been his sister's birthday party. He had invited Tsukiko over to the Kuchiki residence and she had been allowed to go and for the rest of the afternoon they had discussed the different possibilities that may be so that she would not have to marry against her will.

Five grueling hours later they still hadn't come any further than they had been at the beginning of the afternoon. Tsukiko had had to go home and he had simply seen her carried off in her litter, feeling as if he was losing an important piece of his life. Which was stupid, as he hold told himself over and over again during the last fourteen hours. Of course he wasn't losing her. He would still be able to see her, she was his cousin after all. And nobody ever refused a request made by a Kuchiki, well unless you wanted their terrible wrath pulled upon you.

And so he had also spent the best part of the night lying in bed, trying to figure out a way with which they could get Tsukiko out of the marriage. And since his mind and body had been extremely tired he had spent at least three quarters of that time trying to not fall asleep.

And so with only three hours of solid sleep he had been to get up to get to the Academy on time. And having to deal with his brothers pranks as well as his grandfather's nagging certainly hadn't improved his mood by one bit.

Therefore he now stood at the training grounds, at seven thirty in the morning, waiting for the training sessions to begin. On top of it all he was still partnered up with Aurora Ukitake and he wasn't in the slightest mood to deal with her. And seeing Ichiro walk in with a self-satisfied smirk on his face certainly hadn't improved the situation.

So when Grimmjow arrived at the training grounds, intent on making Byakuya back out of this self-destructive coalition, it wasn't a surprise that he nearly turned right back around and went to the board to find out his partner because Byakuya Kuchiki looked like he was emitting rays of darkness and evil, something that had thus far kept away everybody else.

But Grimmjow knew that he had no choice. Trying to make his sister back out wouldn't work, he knew her too well. She was his twin after all. And to be perfectly honest he didn't even notice Byakuya's foul mood. He had a darned foul mood of his own. As well as incredibly thick skin and being oblivious to everyone else's moods. Growing up with a person like Ari as a sister did things like that to you.

"Byakuya Kuchiki?" He asked, looking at the tall, frowning man. He didn't like nobility any more than his sister did but he did respect Byakuya Kuchiki for his skill. He had seen him in training more than once and knew that Byakuya wasn't someone who just idly swung their practice swords around. He was someone who worked for their fighting reputation and he was also someone who had a fair amount of talent and for that Grimmjow respected him.

And he didn't fall over himself for Ayane Fukuda, something that definitely commended him in Grimmjows eyes.

"Yeah?" Byakuya looked at the man standing opposite him. He had seen the man several times before and had even talked to him, but had never actually worked with him. Searching through his mind he was sure he remembered the man's name. But it just wouldn't come to him. The man was as tall as he was, something that one didn't find very often, but what most stood out about him was his hair colour. It was a bright, lumiscent blue that shone across the training grounds and it stood up a large, clear spikes. The man also had light blue eyes that held a playful yet challenging spark. And there was most definitely a daring air about him. This wasn't someone that you just messed with.

"I'm Grimmjow. Grimmjow Ukitake. I understand you're partnered up with my sister?" The man looked him straight in the eyes, showing no obvious emotion.

Byakuya felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. "Sister?"

"Yeah." The man called Grimmjow grimaced. "Aurora."

"Oh." Byakuya was lost for words. He hadn't expected her brother to come and talk to him. It was true that they had exchanged words once or twice before but nothing serious. And Grimmjow was looking extremely serious.

"Yeah, well I wanted to ask you to please back out of this pairing." Grimmjow said. Now Byakuya was really surprised. "You see, I understand that you don't want to and everything but believe me, if you knew my sister like I do then you would back out." He grimaced again. "I know it's not great nor noble but please, if you value your life, especially those of unmentionables then please do yourself the favour and back out."

Byakuya looked at Grimmjow in surprise. He hadn't ever expected anyone to be so frank. However any reply he had was lost as the person they had just been talking about arrived. "Grimmjow?" Aurora Ukitake looked at her brother suspiciously.

"Oh hi onee-san." Grimmjow grinned at his sister, obviously trying to cover up for his presence there. "You're here early today."

She looked at him dubiously. "That's because I woke you up nitwit. Now get lost." She said, not looking particularily pleased and very suspicious.

"Kind as ever, kind as ever." He muttered walking off, looking just as annoyed as she appeared to be. It hadn't worked but hopefully, just hopefully Byakuya would back out. He had to, otherwise they were all doomed.

~.~.~.~.~

"Okay, spit it out. What the hell did my brother want from you?" Aurora turned towards Byakuya and raised her eyebrows. He then realised that she looked about as annoyed as he was. Well apart from being intensly surprised at her brother's request.

"Nothing really." He said honestly. He wasn't even considering backing out, if anyone was to back out, then it would most definitely be her, not him.

"No point in trying to hide anything." She muttered darkly. "I'll figure it out eventually."

And he was sure that she would. She just seemed like the type of person who would go great lengths to find something out. He mentally winced at the thought at what she might do to her brother if she ever found out. Somehow he knew her pride would be seriously pricked. On second thought though, even just trying to find it out would be painful for her brother.

"You seem quite lost in thought this morning, _my lord_." Drat it, he thought as he held back the urge to lash out at her verbally.

"You too preoccupied?" And now he was beyond certain that she was just mocking him.

"I told you not to call me that." He bit off as they both signed in for that day's training.

"Well my lord, you see that I cannot abandon the common rules of etiquette." She grinned evily.

"I feel flattered." He said sarcastically, his own response causing him to feel extremely surprised. She seemed to bring out the worst in him. No, she was definitely bringing out the worst in him. And considering that he hadn't slept properly the last night, he was pretty close to snapping. Too close for his liking.

"Oh you should be. Normally I am quite rude to the people around me." She smiled innocently and if he hadn't known her he might have believed she was an angel. Sadly he did know her. Which meant that no way in hell was he going to believe that she was innocent.

"I noticed." He muttered under his breath, unable to stop himself.

"Did you say something my lord?" Amusement glittered in her eyes as they arrived at their designated training area.

"I said that I noticed that." Some demon or devil had to be compelling him because he knew that he normally wasn't like this. He hadn't even known that he could be like this until she had gone and provoked him.

"Oh really my lord? How observant of you. I thought you didn't bother yourself with us lowly people who sit so far beneath you." He snapped. He couldn't stop himself. Her behaviour was rubbing him the wrong way on the wrong day. With a yell he pulled out his sword and swung it at her. She reacted like lightning and parried his blow.

"Is something the matter my lord? You seem awfully upset this morning." Again he swung at her and again she parried. Then she thrust her sword, nearly catching him in the ribs. Just about managing to step aside before the blade hit him, he twirled around. Somehow knowing that he couldn't wait he thrust his blade towards her.

But she jumped up and while doing so she brought her blade down towards her. He had to admit that her skill was amazing. To be able to still manoeuvre a blade while literally flying through the air was impressive. But those thoughts fled his mind as he attempted to dodge the attack but was unable to do so completely. Feeling a slight pain on his cheek he jumped back and felt it. Looking at his hand he saw blood. Damn, she'd cut him. And he knew one thing for certain, he wasn't going to let her get away with that. Giving in to his instincts he slashed forward and before parrying it he could have sworn he saw her smile.

~.~.~.~.~

Hayato Kato held his hands over his eyes. "Tell me when it's over." He muttered. "Please tell me when I can go and back my bags and leave."

Hibiki smirked. "Don't you think you're over-doing it Hayato? They're just sparring after all."

"They've been sparring for three goddamned hours! Three hours!" The words burst forth from Hayato's mouth which had been in a tight, thin line of worry over the past three hours.

"Come on now Hayato." Aoi smiled at the quivering man sympathetically.

"No one's dead yet." Shiora said with a grin. "And it looks like she's really enjoying herself."

"Yet?" Hayato practically screeched. "Yet?" The others had to admit that the screech was pretty impressive for a man with his voice timbre.

"Hayato, please calm down." Mika said mildly, seriously starting to worry about his heart condition. The poor man looked like he was about to have a stroke.

"How can I calm down? He's had at least a dozen cuts, has been kicked several times and has had her elbow in his stomach! I know his grandfather for god's sake!" Now Hayato looked like he was hyperventilating. Even Hibiki looked worried. "I'm going to die, I'm sure of it. When his grandfather finds out I let his heir spar with that monster..."

"That's going too far Hayato." Shiora nearly growled. Aurora was one of her favourite students.

Aoi looked at Shiora's temper starting to rise. "She is not a monster Hayato." She said placatingly. Why did she feel as if she was always surrounded by three year-olds? They were supposed to be grown men and women. People with decorum and good behaviour. People the students could look up to. Instead it felt as if she were heading a class of teenagers herself.

"But you have to admit that she is challenging him." Hibiki said with a thoughful glance in the general direction of the sparring pair. Aoi looked at him sharply. Like the others here she also believed that he had somehow manipulated the results to get the two of them working together. And since it was him he'd probably just done it for his own entertainment. To see how two of their best and also sadly most obstinate students clashed. But even she had to admit that this partnership was reaping unexpected results. Both of them were pushing each other further than they had pushed themselves in the past months.

Mika looked at them all. "We should probably call the training off though soon. No matter how well they might be challenging each other we should still consider their health. I doubt that either would stop of their own iniative." Ever the practical one Mika had seen how to solve all of their problems with one stroke. Aoi looked at her close friend in thanks, happy that she had taken the iniative to make them all stop their bickering.

Hayato looked like he would pass out from relief.

"It's decided then." Aoi nodded her head at Shiora and Mika. Both of them nodded. Chanting a spell underneath their breaths they made a giant bell appear. Stepping forward Aoi took her zanpakuto and hit the hilt softly against bell. Suddenly across the campus the bells all rang to mark the end of the session. Still holding the hilt against the bell she began to speak and her voice resounded around the whole campus.

"Listen up everyone. We will lay in a break now and will resume with normal lessons in exactly two hours time. Tardiness will not be excused. Our next physical session will be tomorrow at point nine o'clock. Again tardiness will not be excused. See you all after the break." Removing her hilt from the bell she stepped back. Both Shiora and Mika nodded and muttered another incantation. The bell vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Well let's go and take a break ourselves then." Hibiki threw his usual grin around at all of them. "After all, we're going to have to teach this lot in two hours."

As Hayato sagged against the wall opposite the viewing screen they all let out a loud groan.

~.~.~.~.~

As Aoi Kawano's voice faded away Ari sheathed her sword. She had truly enjoyed this sparring match. Not only was it incredibly fun to needle the noble Byakuya Kuchiki and see him snap, but he also did live up to the reputation that his house had strong soul reapers. He had managed to keep up with all of her moves, something she now greatly respected him for. He had started to become more and more slow towards the end but that could only be expected. After all, even she was starting to feel the physical strain of fighting for three hours straight.

Byakuya was bent double, trying to take in long and large breaths. She had hit him more times than he had realised and the pain from all those wounds was beginning to get to him. And it wasn't as if she had been the only one he had had to contend with. They were still on the training grounds which meant that hollows had immediately started appearing as soon as they had drawn their swords and so they had had to fight off the hollows as well as keeping up with each other. He felt truly exhausted. And the wounds from two days prior weren't helping at all.

"That was fun Mr. I'm-so-high-and-mighty." Ari grinned provocatively in his direction. "See you tomorrow then." And with that she just flash-stepped away, leaving him once again in the dust.

Byakuya just shook his head. He just couldn't understand that strange behaviour of her's. One moment they were seriously sparring and the next she was back to provoking him into erupting. It was like she had two personalities at times. Oh well, nothing to do about that now. He sheathed his sword and began to make his way towards the meeting point, once again beginning to feel the true extent of all of those cuts. None of them were that serious or life-threatening even. But they still hurt. A lot.

Wincing he rounded the last corner and decided to flash-step to the registration sheet. No need to give the others ample time to study his wounds and pull conclusions from them. Once that was done he managed to make it out of the gate without being spoken to and put on his cloak. It still was rather chilly, something he hadn't noticed during his fight with Aurora.

And then there was that strange smile she had given him at the beginning of their match. Right before they had started off in earnest. It was almost as if she had known that he would need something with which he could vent out his anger and to be perfectly honest the match had helped a lot in that respect. His brow grew stormy. He didn't want to think of her as someone sympathetic or even nice. She still was the devil incarnate, of that he was sure.

"Oi! Byakuya!" Byakuya turned around, his foul mood beginning to grow again, when he saw Ichiro headed towards him with a very unharmed looking Ayane Fukuda hanging on his arm. Byakuya groaned, Ichiro was looking like an absolute lunatic, a complete nutter. That sickly grin on his face made Byakuya feel sick.

And Ayane was just hanging on his arm, giggling non-stop. Why did he have to bring her along? All he had wanted to do was get his wounds treated, and preferably not at home, and then soak in a nice, long, hot bath. Now those dreams were started to fly further and further away because there was no way that Ichiro would bring Ayane along to the infirmary or the hot springs. Where he went to the 'Guys Only' section anyway.

"Ichiro." He forced himself to put on a thin smile. "Ayane."

"Dear god you look like you've been to hell and back." Ichiro said to him jauntily as they reached him.

"That's because I feel like I have." He sniped back, uncaring that a woman was in their presence as well. Ichiro had just dashed his plans for a good break and after the past two days his mood somehow managed to deteriorate with a surprisingly intense speed.

~.~.~.~.~

"And you managed to somehow end up with him again?" Ari quirked an eyebrow at Hinode who was sitting at the edge of the hot spring, still covered in a towl and tentavitely feeling the temperature of the water with her toes.

"Yeah." Hinode gave a long-suffering sigh. "That bastard Hotaka managed to drag me all the way to that Ichiro again. And I. Can't. Stand. That. Guy!" She threw a smaller towel expertly at the wall.

Ari submerged herself in the hot water before appearing again, her hair now looking like liquid silver with gold flowing through it. "He's a bastard. Get used to it. Not all people from the upper class are as nice as you are." She smiled at her friend. "You are a diamond amongst pearls."

Hinode blushed slightly. "Thanks, but the same can be said of you. Not many people I know would openly insult a noble." She smiled a knowing smile at Ari.

"What can I say?" Ari grinned unashamed. "That's just me. The five foot two pixie who beats up the big guys." Both friends laughed loudly.

"It seems your session was a lot more productive than mine though." Hinode looked over at Ari, whose face spoke of the pure bliss of being in a hot spring.

"Yeah it was." Ari smiled. "For all of him being a noble and know-it-all, he isn't bad at waving a sword around gracefully."

"Oh my god. We have to record this moment for eternity. I think I just heard Aurora Ukitake compliment someone. The Aurora Ukitake." Both friends submitted themselves to a new bout of laughter.

"No but really." Ari looked at her friend once she managed to get some air again. "I think I might have a fair shot at him sticking around for a while."

Hinode grinned. "You have no idea how happy I am for you Ari, especially after the other two hundred and ninety-nine that you got rid of."

Ari put on a mask of mock indignation. "You actually counted?" But then she grinned and both friends laughed once more. Looking up at the clock Ari sighed, the clock read five past eleven. That meant that had little under an hour left of their break. Hinode followed her gaze and sighed again, realising that they would have to go now if they still wished to get some lunch.

"Come on let's go." She said turning to Ari who had already gotten out of the spring and putten on her towel. "Let's go and get some lunch before we have to listen to another three hours of Fujimoto-sensei lecturing the boys on proper behaviour."

Ari chuckled. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

><p><em> AN: As you have probably noticed the chapters are getting longer and longer. Hopefully that's not a bad thing though. =P ;D_

_ As always, please read and review! =)  
><em>


	10. Lessons

**Memories**

**Chapter 9 - Lessons**

Looking about the classroom Ari sighed to herself. It had turned out just like Hinode and her had joked back at the hot springs. Shiora Fujimoto, their main Professor or Sensei, was lecturing the boys once again on the proper rules which had to be obeyed when in the presence of a girl. Of course they never actually remembered how to behave anyway. They would nod and grin and that would be it. A minute later they would be behaving with the same lack of manners as before.

It wasn't as if all of the guys were bad. But a lot of them. Having spiritual pressure and being allowed to come to the academy had turned them into arrogant twats. Ari stopped herself from sighing again. She knew quite a few relatively nice guys, ones who would refrain from behaving in an absolutely arrogant manner. Most of them were her brother's friends. And all of them were afraid of her apart from maybe one or two. She grinned at that. At least her reputation managed to keep all of those idiots away, an unexpected bonus.

Turning back to her class she spied two of Ayane's friends glaring at her. Well that was only to be expected. At least half the girls knew that Ari couldn't stand her and the other half felt it. Ari and Ayane had once been relatively close but that had changed when Ayane's widowed mother had married into a noble house and Ari and her brothers had left the Ukitake household. Ayane had later then 'invited' her and Hinode into her social circle. They had respectfully declined. But that had been lost on Ayane. Nobody ever refused her or an invitation from her. To her it had seemed as if Ari was declaring some sort of war on her.

Which was absolutely ludicrous of course. Ari simply wasn't interested in the false politics and friendships that went on in those circles. And on top of that she hated going to all those parties and pretending to be someone you weren't. That Ayane saw it as a personal insult was her own problem, not her's.

And it probably needled Ayane to no end that Ari was partnered up with Byakuya. Even with eighteen he was known as one of the best-looking guys in the year. That he was rich, tall and mysterious definitely helped that image. Hinode had overheard Ayane talking about how Byakuya would be her next 'conquest'. The idea that making a boy fall for you was nothing more than a 'conquest' disgusted Ari and it just gave her another reason to look at Ayane with disdain.

The tittering circle of friends that surrounded Ayane certainly only strengthened Ari's views. She surrounded herself with tonnes of 'friends' but how many of those 'friends' were real was something debatable. She shook herself her head softly. She should really concentrate on the lesson instead of letting her thoughts drift off into other directions.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya winced as he sat down. Damn it but treating those cuts had only worsened how they felt. Quite frankly he felt like going home and sleeping. He was tired and he didn't feel like hiding it behind his mask as he usually did. On top of that Ichiro had done nothing but talk about Ayane when they had finally made it to the hot springs. He had felt like dunking his friend under the steaming water until he stopped. But that had seemed like exerting too much energy. Now he wished that he had.

Ichiro settled himself down next to him. Grinning broadly he turned to Byakuya. "So what do you think?"

Byakuya quirked an annoyed eyebrow at him. "About what precisely?"

Ichiro looked surprised. "Well about Ayane of course."

"What about her?"

Ichiro cast him a look of disbelief. "Well what you think of her of course!" He stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She's okay I guess." Byakuya shrugged and then instantly regretted the movement. He'd forgotten all about the cut that she'd landed on his back.

"Okay? Is that all you can say?" Ichiro looked incredulous.

"Well what am I supposed to say? That she's the most fabulous creature in the Soul Society?" Byakuya's voice dripped with sarcasm. Which was obviously lost on Ichiro.

"See that's more like it." And then Ichiro started with his long ramblings about her again. Byakuya resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. What he thought of her obviously didn't matter. All Ichiro wanted to do was to go on and on about her. Something he really wasn't in the mood for.

For some reason he'd never been greatly interested in girls. Since he was younger all they had ever done was flock about him due to his position, family and looks. None of them were really ever interested in who he was. And over time that feeling had developed into him avoiding the women as far as humanly possible. Or simply ignoring their simpering and flirting. They weren't interested in him anyway. They were only interested in the money and power that came with his name.

Sighing he clamped down the resentment that was beginning to build in his chest. No use trying to complain about it. Nobody would understand it anyway, even Ichiro hadn't understood it when Byakuya had tried to explain it once. So he just accepted his position as the mysterious person who didn't ask any girl out. It was just what it had evolved to and he wasn't going to try and stop that.

Ignoring Ichiro's voice going on and on about basically the same thing next to him, Byakuya cast a look around the room. As he did he caught Grimmjow's eye. The man nodded towards him. Or to be more exact his arm which was covered in bandages. Byakuya raised his brow questioningly. Grinning Grimmjow held up his own arm. Surprise flowed through Byakuya, it was also covered in bandages. A smile broke out across his face, he couldn't help it. By the looks of it Aurora had managed to catch her brother between the physical session and the lessons.

A strange sense of kinsmanship spread through him as he turned back to the front of the classroom. Now he knew he couldn't quit. Maybe it was just that Aurora infuriated him in ways he hadn't thought possible. She provoked him in every manner possible. But she was a challenge. It wasn't that he just couldn't back down from a challenge, she also challenged him. That last session had been more fun than he was willing to admit. She tested his physical and mental limits and it was fun to rise to her challenge.

And with a smirk Byakuya looked at the board. As well as all that he was probably diverting some of the energy she usually used on her brother onto himself. And who couldn't help but be honourable and help a fellow man in need?

~.~.~.~.~

Stretching as she stepped into the sunlight Ari grinned broadly. Those past three hours had gone faster than she had thought. And now they had the rest of the day off. And it was only three in the afternoon. Looking up at the sun she felt happiness spread through herself.

"And why are you so happy?" Hinode came up beside her.

"I have no idea why." Ari said honestly. "I think it's probably just being in the sun and already having off at three in the afternoon."

Laughing shortly Hinode nodded. "True, it's not often that we can leave the Academy this early."

Grinning widely Ari skipped forward a bit and then jumped back to Hinode. "Let's go to the market."

Shaking her head Hinode smiled. "You love it there, don't you? We always go there."

"Yeah well that's because it's simply beautiful there."

"I can't deny that." Hinode smiled. Nobody would guess that this feisty bundle of energy loved the bustling old market in the poorer districts. But even she admit that those districts had beautiful markets. There was a sense of belonging and family there that you couldn't find anywhere else. And she also knew that Ari and Grimmjow had lived there before being adopted into the Ukitake household. So for her friend it was basically like going to her old home.

"So?" Ari's eyes danced as she spun back around. Where she got all her energy from Hinode would never know.

"I wouldn't be able to stop you going there anyway, so I'll come with you." Hinode laughed. Ari grinned, happy that Hinode would come with her. Shopping for groceries in the Old Market was always fun and interesting but having Hinode along would definitely be great.

"Well look who we have here." Both of them groaned internally at that voice. They would have been able to recognise it from miles away.

"And there goes my good mood." Ari muttered and then swung around, a false smile plastered on her face. "And what brings you to our lowly circle today?"

"Oh not much." Ayane smiled sweetly but the smile never reached her eyes.

"Well then you're gonna have to excuse us _my lady_ since Hinode and I have somewhere to be." Ari did a mock bow of respect before walking off, Hinode following suit.

"Stay away from him." Ayane said in low, threatening voice. "He's mine."

There was no doubt as to whom she was talking about. "Sorry, no can do. You're gonna have to tell him to back out and stay away from me. Because, as you surely know, I never back down." The gentle calm that had suddenly surrounded Ari was frightening and even Ayane and Hinode backed away. Hinode knew that only rarely Ari became serious, and when she did... well you didn't want to stay around to find out.

"Ari, come on, let's go." Hinode tugged at Ari's sleeve and Ari turned her back on Ayane.

"If you want him, you can have him. You know that I don't 'conquest' the boys as you do." Ari turned her head, a sneer in her voice. "But believe me Ayane, he won't want you. Try all you might, but he won't even look at you."

Ayane and even Hinode stared at Ari's retreating back in shock. There had been something about her voice that spoke of a clear honesty. If Hinode didn't know any better then she would have thought that Ari knew Byakuya well enough to say this of him. But as she rushed after her friend she shook her head. That couldn't be possible, could it?

~.~.~.~.~

Standing at the top of the steps Byakuya and Ichiro stared at the group of girls near the gate. The pure hatred that had appeared in Aurora's eyes for a second as she had looked at Ayane had surprised him. And somehow he felt angry that Ayane had caused this. As far as he could see Aurora wasn't the person who got angry quickly or even held a grudge. Oh yes she tormented people all right and needled them, but she never got truly angry. Nor did she ever show a strong like or dislike towards a person. It just didn't happen. But Ayane had caused something in Aurora to change, even if it was just for an instant.

Somehow Ayane managed to anger a fair amount of girls. He hadn't really noticed it before but now that Ichiro was constantly blabbering about 'Ayane this' and 'Ayane that' he had watched her, afraid for his friend in a way. He had heard of a lot of broken hearts and he didn't want his friend to end up the same way as many of his other classmates had. And when Ichiro and Ayane had walked into the classroom he had noticed the glares from a group of girls at the front. One of them had been the girlfriend of another classmate of his, one who had dumped her to woo Ayane. And she had just ended up playing with him and then rejecting the poor man. He found that whole behaviour absolutely disgusting. But he had no idea how he was going to tell the infatuated Ichiro about all this.

And he had seen Aurora minutes before, laughing and chattering with Hinode. He hadn't really thought that a demon like her could even express joy. He had felt somehow... happy he guessed that she had been. But Ayane had ruined that and it annoyed him to no end.

"Lord Kuchiki. Ichiro." Ayane smiled flirtatiously as she came up the stairs. Byakuya resisted the urge to scowl and put on a mask of ice and indifference. Ichiro immediately greeted her warmly and attempted to talk to her. Byakuya just nodded shortly, he was in no real mood to converse with her. It felt like he would be betraying Aurora in a way. And since she was his partner he would be betraying her in some form since she obviously despised Ayane.

"So how were the lessons today Lord Kuchiki? Not to boring I hope." Ayane laughed prettily. Byakuya resisted the urge to scowl once more. She just didn't seem to get that he didn't want to converse with her. Maybe he should make that clear to her.

"No, they were perfectly alright." He said, he wasn't able to not be polite. He guessed his grandfather's lectures on behaviour hadn't been lost on him after all. "But I am a bit tired, so if you'll excuse me, I would like to go and get some rest." He couldn't think of any other excuse. But as he walked away he realised with surprise that he was incredibly tired and that lying down on his bed to sleep before going to another one of his grandfather's meetings that evening sounded a lot like heaven. If only Ichiro would let him, he thought, as his friend rushed after him looking slightly affronted that Byakuya had just walked away from Ayane.

~.~.~.~.~

"I now know why I hate her." Hinode looked up at Ari who had just come out of the Squad 13 barracks. She herself wasn't really allowed in them but the members of Squad 13 didn't mind. They knew that she was Ari's friend and that she was doing nothing else but waiting for her.

"Hate who?" Grimmjow, Ari's twin brother, and Hinode's opinion a half-idiot at least, settled down next to her.

"Well who do you think?" Hinode turned to him with sarcasm in her voice as Ari walked back inside, looking like she had forgotten something or the other.

"Ayane then." Grimmjow's expression darkened. "Can't stand that bitch."

Hinode looked at him in surprise. "So you actually belong to that teensy percent of the male population that doesn't fall love-struck at her feet?"

Grimmjow snorted. "She's a false snake, anyone with half a brain can see that."

Hinode felt herself smile. "I do believe that you have just insulted nearly half of the population at the Academy."

Grimmjow grinned right back. "I do believe I have." Hinode laughed at that. She hadn't really noticed it before, she didn't actually spend much time in Grimmjow's prescence, but it seemed that he and Ari both possessed that playful streak. Plus the killer sense of humour as it was turning out to be. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"What are you two mumbling about?" Ari came over to them, a bag slung over her shoulder, and a very suspicious expression on her face.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all sister dear." Grimmjow grinned as he got up and walked away quickly, Hinode had seen his bandaged arm and had the sneaking suspicion that Ari had something to do with it, in some form or another.

Ari looked at his retreating back with narrowed eyes and then shrugged her shoulders. "Let's go then."

Hinode grinned widely. "Yes, off to the market we go!"

Ari looked at her dubiously, but her eyes were laughing. "Yup, off to buy all the food we need to feed those two monsters I call my brothers!"

Both of them burst out laughing. They couldn't help it. Forgotten seemed the encounter with Ayane and back came the pure joy of having off so early. And of course the prospect of buying great food. That could make anyone happy. Especially the two brothers who would be recieving it later that night.

~.~.~.~.~

Suppressing groans seemed to be what Byakuya was growing to be extremely proficient at. Ichiro of course hadn't let him go home after the lessons and so his sweet dreams of that heavenly large and soft bed and vanished like the mist on a sunny morning.

So they had trundled through the streets without any real aim, only stopping by Ichiro's house to dump their school stuff before going out again. Only thing was that Ichiro's younger sister had insisted on coming along. Which was probably why they were trundling through the streets without any real aim. Or thankfully not talking about Ayane. For that he would forever be in Aika's debt. He had grown thoroughly sick of expanding on that particular topic again and again.

And Aika was the one keeping up all the talking that they weren't doing. She was a real chatterbox, constantly talking about one thing or another. Currently it was the rumoured affair between Ichiro's cousin Fumio and some servant. It seemed trivial to Byakuya but Ichiro was listening with great concentration and was even actively contributing towards the monologue that Aika had been leading.

"So as I was saying... hey Byakuya, are you even listening? Byakuya?" Aika tugged at his sleeve. It was one of the many other things he appreciated about her. Having known her this long she treated him like a brother, not like some noble. It was nice to be treated like that and he knew he truly valued her for it. He knew that he for one saw her as a sister too.

"Yes I am Aika. Please, do continue." He smiled and she took his word for it and continued as she had before. Ichiro looked at him with a long-suffering look. Ichiro might be interested in the story that his sister was telling but he was obviously more interested in going on about Ayane once more.

Byakuya shook his head and then nearly stopped short as he looked in front of himself again. Only Aika's hand on his sleeve compelled him to keep moving and he knew, in a small part of his mind, that it was good that he hadn't stopped.

~.~.~.~.~

Ichiro muttered softly underneath his breath. Couldn't Aika stop talking for at least a couple of minutes so that he could figure out how to get rid of her? Yes, the story about his cousin Fumio and that servant interested him and yes, he did love his sister to a certain degree to know that getting rid of her would require a fair amount of tact, but couldn't she just stop blabbering on and on about the same story?

Lost deep in thought, it was a surprise that he noticed Byakuya stop at all. Even if it was only for a few seconds before Aika pulled him along again. Curious he abandoned all thoughts of how to get rid of his sister for the minute and looked in front of him. Surprised he nearly stopped too.

In front of them was Hinode, Aurora Ukitake's best friend. She was dressed in a kimono, one that one wore when they weren't in the Academy but rather out and about, shopping or doing some other thing that girls do. He had to admit that she looked quite pretty as she stood there, waiting for something, and laughing at something.

What surprised him though, and probably Byakuya too, wasn't Hinode though. It was the girl who had just come out of the shop, a pure, unadultered laugh gracing her lips. It took him a few seconds but then with a start he realised that this was Aurora herself.

Squinting slightly he shook his head. It couldn't be possible that it was her yet with whom else would Hinode have come all the way here, into this district. Admittedly, he hadn't been paying all too much attention to his surroundings himself, trying to concentrate more on how to rid himself and Byakuya of his sister, but it was clear that they were in a district into which he normally wouldn't go into.

The sun was flitting through the canopy that hung over the shop in a way that made Aurora's hair appear liquid silver. The golden streaks in her hair highlighted this effect and this made it seem as if it were glowing from the inside out. Her turquoise eyes, which had been closed just a second earlier from laughter were now open, dancing and prancing about. The golden flecks in those eyes shone brightly, illuminating her whole face. Ichiro shook his head, he had to be in some kind of warped dream if she was looking pretty to him, him who only cared for Ayane.

At that moment Aika looked up to see why her audience had suddenly become quiet and mesmerised with something in front of them. Spotting the two women, her whole face lit up and she let go of both of their arms, running forward slightly. Highly inappropriate for someone of her standing.

"Kono-chan!" She called as she ran forward, grinning. Ichiro wipped his head towards his sister. She knew Hinode?

"Hara-chan, it's great to see you." Hinode smiled at the younger girl, Aika's welcoming smile reflected on her own face.

"I thought I might find you here." Aika bubbled happily. Both men turned to each other in shock, she had thought that she might find them _here_? They hadn't been wandering around aimlessly? Both of them walked over, their curiosity piqued.

Aurora turned to face them. "Lord Kuchiki." A mock smile graced her features. She even managed a short curtsy.

"I told you..." Byakuya felt his temper flare once more.

Aurora just laughed. "I know, I know. I can't help myself."

"Pfft. Ukitake-san." Byakuya nodded and somehow Ichiro had the feeling that Byakuya was needling her on purpose.

"And I told you not to call me that." Aurora wagged her finger at him.

"You stop calling me 'your grace' and 'Lord Kuchiki' in such a condescending tone and I'll stop calling you Ukitake-san." Byakuya huffed, annoyed that he was letting his temper get the better of him. Yet he couldn't stop himself.

"Come on Byakuya, can't you understand a little fun?" Aurora quirked an eyebrow at him, amusement written all across her features.

"I can Aurora, but you always start it." Byakuya retorted, ignoring the incredulous looks that they were getting from Ichiro, Aika and Hinode.

She chuckled. "Needling you is fun and you know it. Come on, you can't deny it can you?" Her face appeared all honest and sincere but the mirth was obvious in the slight twist of her mouth and her dancing eyes.

"I can. Hmpf." He started to turn away, pretending to be affronted. She just laughed.

Turning slightly more serious she looked at him closer. "That cut on your shoulder isn't too deep though, is it?" He whipped around, surprised to see the touch of concern on her face.

"It's fine." He said shortly, not wanting anyone, especially not her, to know that it was actually hurting like hell.

"That's good then." The smile was back on her face. "I'll see you at training tomorrow then?"

A groan escaped his lips. He hadn't meant to let it get out and a peeved look entered his eyes. "Yeah, I'll see you at training."

"Okidoki then. Come on now Hinode. Bye!" She waved as she and Hinode moved on to the next store, vanishing inside the cluttered walls and floors.

Aika's "You know them?" exited her mouth the same time as Ichiro's "What the hell?" and Byakuya managed to contain his groan. Now it looked as if the bliss of sleeping would definitely not be granted to him this afternoon.

* * *

><p><em>AN: First of all I'd like to thank all the people who have read this story and added it to their favourites list, believe me, it is greatly appreciated!_

_In this chapter we get a small insight into how the characters feel towards each other as well as the perspective of some of the characters that haven't been featured before... Hopefully it isn't going too slow! =P =)_

_Please read and review! =D =)_


	11. Time, a truly strange phenomenon

**Memories**

**Chapter 10 - Time, a truly strange phenomenon**

"But how can anyone be harder to work with than Captain Kuchiki?" Renji queried, finding the whole concept absolutely absurd. Nobody was harder to work with than his captain, it was a known fact amongst all the lieutenants and soul reapers. Byakuya Kuchiki was a silent and distant captain, one who never appeared to care about anything. Renji knew that Byakuya cared about Rukia, it had been proven when Ichigo and his friends had invaded the Soul Society years back to rescue her. Their improving relationship was also proof of this. But other than that Byakuya remained mysterious and cold.

Captain Ukitake laughed shortly. "Oh believe me, you haven't met her so you couldn't possibly tell. But... how should I say this? Um..." He seemed to be considering quite strongly on how to tell him and Rukia how his sister had been such a challenge to work with.

"I think I should start by saying this. She was petite, smaller than even you Rukia." Both of them looked at him incredulously. Catching their look Captain Ukitake smiled. "Yes, I know it's hard to believe but she was. And that made people misjudge her. At the beginning they thought that she was small and that was why they could do what they wanted. She brought reality home quite harshly to most of them. Something they did not appreciate. And she was a fiery bundle of energy, something that was hard to keep up with. She was constantly in motion." Captain Ukitake shook his head with a smile, happy memories obviously coming back to him.

"It sounds like you loved her a lot sir." Rukia looked at her captain in wonder. Even she hadn't heard him speak like this about anyone else before.

"Yeah, she was a rare jewel among people." He looked wistful. "But like every other person she had quite a few flaws as well. Ones that normally cost the people around her a lot." That Captain Ukitake winced was not lost on Renji or Rukia.

"Like what sir?" Renji wasn't sure if he wanted to really know.

"She had the shortest temper of anyone that I've ever known. And I've known my fair share of people over the years." Captain Ukitake smiled at that.

"Even shorter than Ichigo's?" Rukia looked incredulous. The orange-haired substitute shinigami was known for his incredibly short temper and stubborness.

"By leagues. She had the most amazing mood swings. It was quite frightening to watch actually." Captain Ukitake shivered slightly despite the warm temperatures within his office. "She would be calm and peaceful one minute and the next she would be hitting you in the side. And that hurt quite a lot, let me tell you that. And she was stubborn. Incredibly so. Once she had her mind set on something she wouldn't stray off that path, even if it was obvious that she was wrong. Her obstinacy got her in trouble numerous times. Not that she would ever even think of admitting that she was wrong. She was too proud for that."

"She kinda reminds me of Ichigo." Renji stated. Rukia stared at him in shock. How could Renji even compare those two? For one she was a woman and he was a man.

"It's probably one of the reasons that Captain Kuchiki doesn't get along with him at all. He hates being reminded of her in any fashion." Captain Ukitake mused, looking thoughtful. To be perfectly truthful he had never really thought about it like that but now that he had said it, it made sense. Ichigo did possess a lot of qualities that had been inherant to his sister and while it endeared Ichigo to him, it made Byakuya shy away.

Maybe the feelings that he had thought were gone were still present. Were the old feelings that Byakuya had had for his sister still lingering somewhere in that frozen heart of his?

~.~.~.~.~

They truly did say that time healed all wounds and relations. Byakuya wasn't exactly sure if that was true. As far as he could see it was a double-edged sword. While he and Aurora were getting used to each other as partners and their work together seemed to be getting better, his friendship with Ichiro was strained to say the least.

Well as far as you could term improving. She wasn't hitting him every other minute and the other day they had actually managed a whole conversation without him getting hit or reprimanded by her in some fashion or another. But his friendship with Ichiro was strained. The fact that Byakuya had little to no interest in Ayane absolutely baffled Ichiro, his friend simply couldn't see that Byakuya didn't like her in that fashion. Or any other fashion to be honest.

But what caused the true strain in their friendship was firstly how Ayane was throwing herself at him. He wasn't interested in her and his icy glares managed to scare her off for most of the time. But if she caught him off guard it was all he could do not to throw her back himself. And he deeply suspected that Ichiro was jealous of these attentions in some manner. He just couldn't figure out why. He had made it clear through his actions and through actually telling Ichiro himself that he wasn't interested in Ayane. Ichiro just didn't seem to believe him.

And secondly was the fact that he got along relatively well with Aurora. Ichiro just couldn't fathom how Byakuya even managed to stay in the prescence of that 'monster' for more than a few seconds. But she was better company that Ayane. By thousands of leagues. She had a good sense of humour and absolutely didn't care for all those pretenses of the higher classes. And so she treated him just like she would treat anyone else. Coupled with her short temper, it was an extremely refreshing experience.

And somehow they could talk about nearly everything. That was something that Byakuya could not even say of his family.

Also troubling his mind was the impeding marriage between Tsukiko and Hisashi Ohyashi. He hadn't gotten anywhere on that subject. He needed to find out how to prevent that wedding and fast. He didn't want Tsukiko entering a marriage that she didn't want to enter.

And so he was once again on his way to the training grounds. Admittedly he was running late, but he just couldn't stop grumbling and worrying about all that was happening around him. All these different changes.

Arriving at the grounds he looked around himself in surprise. Aurora wasn't here yet. That was strange. In all of the past two months of which he had been working with her she hadn't been late once apart from that first day. His brow furrowed. Had something happened to her? Looking around he noticed that Grimmjow's bright blue spikes weren't standing out from the crowd either. Maybe both of them were running late?

"Ah, Lord Kuchiki. Your weekend was good I hope?" Byakuya looked up. In front of him was one of his professors, Hayato Kato. His grandfather and this man knew each other well, or so his grandfather had said. That didn't particularily endear him to the professor.

"Sensei." Byakuya nodded his head respectfully. "Yes it was quite good I suppose." He looked himself rather absently. Hayato narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Are you looking for someone Lord Kuchiki?"

"Yes, I actually am. Have you seen Aurora... I mean Ukitake-chan this morning yet?" Byakuya turned back to the astounded professor in front of him. Hayato shook his head slightly as if there was an annoying insect flying about it. Had Byakuya Kuchiki, grandson of Ginrei Kuchiki just called that demon by her first name?

Byakuya looked at the professor expectantly. Hayato tried to pull himself together again, he had had to be imagining things, right?

"No I haven't seen Ukitake-chan this morning yet." Hayato replied at the already turning head of Byakuya.

"Thank you sensei." He said quickly before turning to another professor which had just arrived. "Professor Fujimoto, have you seen Aurora this morning yet?" This time her first name slipped from his tongue and he didn't bother to correct himself. They were partners after all.

"No I haven't. But I haven't seen her brother yet either." Shiora was prevented from continuing by Hibiki's voice.

"Why don't you go over to her place to check if something's wrong Lord Kuchiki?" Byakuya didn't seem to notice the dangerous glint in Hibiki's eyes. The other two winced and Hayato started to sweat profusely. What was Hibiki up to now?

"Where does she live again...?" Byakuya trailed off, searching through the crevices of his mind. Hayato's mouth flopped open. The boy was actually taking up Hibiki's offer?

"In the Squad 13 barracks with her brothers as far as I know." Hibiki bowed humbly.

"Squad 13 barracks?" Byakuya looked baffled. "I never knew she live there..." he mumbled. "Oh well, thank you Kichida-sensei." He bowed respectfully and then made his way towards the exit of the training grounds to find his missing partner.

"What have you done?" Hayato wailed, earning himself more than just a few stares from the students around them.

"I was doing nothing more than being helpful to Lord Kuchiki." Hibiki said with a smirk before turning away to walk to another group of confused-looking students. Shiora started to laugh.

~.~.~.~.~

So she lived at the Squad 13 barracks? Byakuya truly hadn't thought that anyone but the Soul Reapers lived at the barracks. Everytime he had visited the Squad 6 barracks with his grandfather they had seemed so silent and... how should he call it? Distant. Yes, that was it. It was as if his grandfather was inhibiting even the hallways and corridors, everything felt so much like him. To be honest, he had only seen Captain Ukitake of Squad 13 only once or twice from afar, so he couldn't even judge what the man was like. And while he had thought that Aurora and the Captain of Squad 13 might be related, he hadn't thought that they were brother and sister.

Shaking his head he pulled his thoughts back to the present proceedings. Of course there would be a lot that he didn't know about her. It was just... well... he'd been surprised that he hadn't known this about her. It seemed like such a simple fact.

Looking around himself he landed in front of what appeared to be the Squad 13 barracks. They seemed... friendly. Again he felt surprise at that. How could something that was literally a military unit feel friendly. Maybe his senses were just off today.

Entering the barracks he looked around. There seemed to be a lot going on. Quite a few people were running back and forth through the corridors. Squinting he even noticed two people who appeared to be fighting in the distance. Something about 'I said it first!' and 'No I did!'. Extremely confusing indeed.

Walking on he looked about him. Where would Aurora be? That was when he noticed what appeared to be the lieutenant come up to him.

"Hi, how can I help you? I'm Lieutenant Shiba." The man looked quite friendly. But Byakuya didn't miss the daring spark in his eyes.

"Hello, I'm Byakuya Kuchiki." The Lieutenant looked at him in surprise.

"You're that old man's grandson?" He looked incredulous.

"Yeah." Byakuya shrugged apologetically. For what exactly he was apologising for he wasn't sure. It just felt right. "Why?"

"Never thought that anyone that descended from him could look so... nice." Byakuya bristled at the lieutenant's stark honesty. "Don't worry though, it's a compliment." The lieutenant laughed at Byakuya's miffed expression.

"Actually I was looking for..." Byakuya started but was interrupted by a shout of 'take cover!'

Kaien immediately ducked and seeing Ginrei's grandson look up in surprise at the direction of the shout, he pulled him down with him. And just in time because a second later a fiery-looking knife flew straight above them, missing them both by only a few inches.

"Get your lazy asses out of these barracks right now, you useless half-wits!" Both men winced as they recognised the voice. It didn't sound good for whomever she was angry at.

"Ari, please have some mercy on us." Came Jushiro's placating voice and Kaien sighed. His captain should know by now that that didn't work. At least not on her.

"Yes please Ari..." Grimmjow's voice began to second Jushiro's and they looked up just in time to see a second piece of cutlery being hurled in his direction.

"You don't even start on me. _You_ got drunk last night. _You_! Not me. So don't start feeling sorry for your pitiful self and get your ass to the Academy!"

Byakuya and Kaien got back up. "Thank you for that. That would have cost me my head." Byakuya rubbed his neck.

"No problem." Kaien sighed as he turned back to the arguing trio. "Whenever one of them gets drunk and then wakes up with a hang-over she has absolutely no pity on them."

"On none of us either." Another member of Squad 13 stopped shortly and then moved on again, unwilling to even stand the possibility of being subjected to her wrath.

"Okay okay, I'm going!" Grimmjow yelled at his sister and then started to make his way towards the general direction of the duo standing in the middle of the courtyard.

"Please don't bite off anyone's head today Ari." The Captain of Squad 13 turned towards his sister.

"Not planning to." Jushiro looked relieved. "I plan to lop it straight off." A look of pure horror crossed the captain's face. Ari grinned maliciously. It was all Byakuya could do to not burst out laughing.

Suddenly Grimmjow looked up from the small cloud of self-pity that had been forming around him. "Byakuya?" He asked completely dazed.

Ari's head whipped up. "How long have you nitwit been standing there?" Everyone around them pulled in a deep breath. You simply did not insult a Kuchiki.

"Long enough to nearly have my head lopped off quite cleanly by your cutlery." Byakuya smirked at her. She stuck out her tongue at him.

"Maybe it should have been lopped off. Sad really that Kaien pulled you down _Lord Kuchiki_." Everyone just looked on in wonder.

"I told you to stop calling me that." He managed to grind out.

"I know. I just love annoying you to no end. Shall we go then? Our practice has already been drastically shortened because _someone_," She shot daggers at Grimmjow and he took a few steps back. "held me up."

Byakuya just shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go then." He said, deciding to ignore her jibe at his title. He had found out over the course of the past two months that this was the best way to deal with her. Ignore when she playfully insulted you. Retorting would only end in him getting hurt in some fashion.

"Yeah, let's go." Ari bounded up beside him and both of them left the barracks, already chatting about some sort of strategy they were planning to apply to killing the hollows that day. Everyone just watched them leave, lost in some kind of stupor.

"Did I just temporarily vanish into some kind of random daydream where Ari insulted a Kuchiki and did not get her head chopped off?" Kaien looked at his captain and Grimmjow.

"No you didn't." Grimmjow shook his head. Did they actually kind of get along now?

"I'm still waiting every day for an order for my arrest to come because she's injured him beyond recognition." This time it was Jushiro who was holding his neck, obviously imagining some sort of noose there.

"They're partners?" Kiyone Kotetsu, one of the third seats, exclaimed. It earned her a glare from Sentaro Kotsubaki, the other third seat, who looked like he had just been about to say exactly that.

"Yes and why they haven't killed each other yet is beyond my and any other logically-thinking human being's understanding." Jushiro shook his head once more.

"Apparently they aren't logical." Grimmjow looked at the retreating pair's backs and clutched his head. Thinking about them certainly wasn't helping the killer headache that was beginning to truly manifest itself behind his brow.

~.~.~.~.~

Looking up as he heard a tinkling laugh Ichiro scowled. Great, just what he needed. Byakuya and that 'monster'. He was in the mood to see neither. Not too far behind them he could also see Grimmjow, whom he didn't mind all to much actually.

Beside him Ayane muttered darkly underneath her breath. Why exactly he couldn't fathom, but it was him who should be more annoyed out of the two. When he had been partnered up with her two months ago he had thought that it was finally his big chance to impress the girl with whom he had been infatuated with since starting at the Academy over half a year ago. And while Ayane was reciprocating most of his advances she still had her eyes glued to Byakuya whenever he was close by.

Why? What did Byakuya have that he didn't have? Yes, Byakuya was richer, his name held more prestige, he was incredibly handsome and he was definitely more quiet and mysterious. But why did all girls fall for that? Why?

Ichiro grumbled darkly underneath his breath. On top of that, Byakuya still hadn't broken off the partnership to Aurora Ukitake. In fact, it looked like both of them were starting to get along. Why exactly that irked him so much he didn't know. It just did. Maybe it was because he had always been the first to proclaim that she was a monster and a demon. Maybe because he had never seen anyone get along with her in the first place. At least not like Byakuya did. And that he was being proven wrong annoyed him beyond compare.

"Ichiro." Byakuya smiled at him as he came over, Aurora Ukitake having gone off to the board to sign them both in as present. Byakuya turned and smiled stiffly at Ayane. "Fukuda-san."

"Lord Kuchiki." Ayane simpered and Ichiro felt his anguish at Byakuya being preferred over him rise strongly. Although he swore he saw Byakuya step away a couple of steps. Or more shuffle away, trying to be discreet.

"What are you guys doing today?" Byakuya turned quite pointedly towards Ichiro, ignoring Ayane completely. Or at least trying to.

"We're preparing our techniques for the next practical examination. And we're sort of starting to plan for the upcoming partner's ball." Ichiro smirked at Byakuya, for some reason trying to drive home that he would be going with Ayane while Byakuya would not.

A groan escaped Byakuya's lips at the same time as a voice beside him said, "A partner's ball?". Aurora's face was lined with disdain.

"Yeah, it's in one month. Didn't you two know?" Both of them shook their heads at him and Ichiro just stared at them in wonder.

"Well what can you expect from someone like her." Ayane sneered.

Byakuya bristled and turned to stare at Ayane with an absolutely icy glare. She actually backed away a couple of steps.

"I'm sorry Ayane. We were actually concentrating on training, not on making the newest 'conquest' of some boy. I heard that Hajime was quite broken hearted that you dumped him so abruptly two weeks ago." Aurora's smile was completely sweet and innocent. Or at least it appeared to be.

Ayane scowled heavily at her but as she turned to Byakuya with a hopeful expression on her face, probably hoping for him to discard Aurora for snubbing her so clearly, all she saw was an iron wall of annoyance on his face. But it wasn't directed towards Aurora, it was directed towards her.

"Yes, in fact I heard the same thing." Byakuya was actually agreeing with Aurora? "Hajime was indeed quite heart-broken. It's quite tragic."

"Indeed." Aurora nodded. "So now we will have to concentrate on a _ball_ of all things as well. Oh well, it can't be as tragic as a broken heart I guess. But only you would know that Ayane, wouldn't you? I mean, you have to be an expert on breaking hearts considering how many boys you have been through." Smiling sweetly at their shocked faces she turned away. "Good day to both of you, see you around."

Byakuya nodded. "Yes indeed. See you Ichiro." He pointedly shot another icy glare at Ayane and she felt frozen to the core. Not because of his glare, but because of the fact that Byakuya Kuchiki, _the_ Byakuya Kuchiki, had supported that demon Aurora and not her. Not her, who was the prettiest girl in the whole year but that demon Aurora.

How dare Aurora try and plot against her... that demoness was so going to pay...

* * *

><p><em> AN: Thank you so much to all of you who have put this on their lists, it is greatly appreciated. =) Please, please, please review! It would be great to know what you guys think of this story, be it a critique, correcting my grammar or possible errors or indeed anything at all! ;)_

_Hopefully the story isn't moving too slow for you guys... Please forgive me if it is... But I can promise, the upcoming ball will provide an interesting scene, especially certain 'lessons' that have to be taken beforehand... =P =D_


	12. Disaster averted

**Memories**

**Chapter 11 - Disaster averted**

Sighing softly Jushiro looked out towards the falling cherry blossom leaves that danced past his window. Many people were reminded of Byakuya when they saw cherry blossoms, yet for him, and Byakuya probably too, those dancing petals had a completely different meaning. Light and graceful they floated around outside, caught in the light breeze that was moving the fresh spring air.

Seeing the wistful look on her captain's face Rukia knew that now was not the time to press him for any more answers. Maybe they should go and find her brother. He should be able to give them the answers they desired. Renji had noticed the mood swing of the captain too and both simply nodded and bowed respectfully before taking their leave, pausing for several minutes outside the barracks in an attempt to find the missing captain.

Having found his spiritual pressure, both lieutenants made their way towards it, not knowing what they would find but each as curious as the other.

~.~.~.~.~

"Blasted twat." Ari muttered under her breath, extremely annoyed at a certain someone for not turning up for practice. Really, if he was not going to come then he could have told her. A voice at the back of her mind tried to remind her that something might had happened at his house which could have prevented him from coming, but she quickly clamped it down. Heck, even then he could have at least sent a message or something.

She knew she shouldn't be annoyed, she should probably just get on with whatever hollow-slaying she could, he had told her so many times himself. But the bastard was never late, and he nearly always informed her if he was going to be or not. It was just the kind of guy Byakuya Kuchiki was and to be perfectly honest she was more worried than annoyed at the moment. Not that she would ever admit it of course.

Sighing heavily with a sense of resignation she turned her back onto the sign-up board and started to make her way towards the entrance of the Academy. She absolutely hated going into the sector of the Seretei in which Byakuya lived. Number one reason being that she hated anything to do with nobles and their affairs.

"And into the den of wolves I march..." She muttered darkly under her breath, stomping out of the Academy grounds, scowling deeply. Seeing her, the other students left a wide berth around her, unwilling to pull even a portion of her wrath onto them.

Standing a fair distance away, a group watched her leave with a great amount of interest. From afar she actually genuinly looked as if she might want to kill someone. Or was on her way to doing so.

"I wonder what's gotten into her...?" Hibiki muttered, unsure himself this time as to why the young woman looked so murderous.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mika turned to him, her face incrdulous.

"Men can be so daft at times." Shiora shook her head wisely.

"Indeed." Aoi just nodded in agreement.

Hayato just looked completely perplexed. Suddenly it seemed as if the realisation of where she was going dawned on him. He squeaked. There was no other way to describe the sound that had erupted from his mouth.

"Hayato?" Aoi looked at her co-worker with a mild expression on his face. Mika turned to him and grew worried when she saw his face going snow-white within seconds.

"You look like you're going to faint." Shiora suggested, earning herself a pointed glare from Aoi.

"She couldn't possibly be..." The understanding looks he got from the three female professors around him made his blood run cold.

"She couldn't possibly what?" Hibiki, for the first time in all of their memories, appeared completely clueless.

"I have to go. I have to stop her." Hayato stuttered out quickly before promptly turning around and running head-first into a lamp post.

"Ouch." Shiora winced as Mika immediately ran forth to tend to him.

"He'll never learn." Aoi shook her head in pity.

"She couldn't possibly what?" Hibiki was starting to look impatient.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Shiora snapped back, annoyed at all of them for having so little faith in her student.

"She's going to the Kuchiki mansion..." Hayato trailed off, a distant look coming over his face.

Hibiki blanched. "You can't be serious?"

"She is." Shiora retorted, her own temper getting the better of her. "And shame on all of you for having so little faith for her. She's a good person and despite her temper she does know how to mind her manners. She may be a bit volatile at times but even she isn't suicidal. She won't do anything that will purposefully pull the wrath of the Kuchiki's upon her family." Glaring around at them with a spark in her eyes she ranted on. "She adores her family and she knows that if she does anything too out of line then her brother will be the one that pays for those mistakes. She's not once actually done something that has caused any kind of serious trouble for her family or for the Squad 13 division. And I can't even begin to fathom why you all see her as such a demon anyway. She's going there because she's worried and if you are all too flippin' ignorant or blind to see that then you should seriously get some glasses or something to help you see the truth. Hmpf." And with that Shiora marched off, leaving them all staring after her as the dust swirled in the path that she left.

"I think we might have pushed it too far. What she said is all true." Aoi looked contrite, regretting that they had pushed Shiora as far as to actually shout at them.

"We were being unreasonable. Aurora Ukitake has always been careful to make sure that her family and friends were kept out of any disputes that she might have had." Mika looked sorry herself, understanding the extent of injustice that had been carried out by them. Especially since they were the ones who were supposed to support and help the students, being their teachers.

Hibiki shook his head at them. "Just look at the lot of you, feeling all sorry for yourselves. If you were so against the two of them working together, then why didn't you go to them yourselves and tell them that it would be stupid to work together?" Blinking twice he stared in surprise as all of them froze, even Shiora who had just come back, still fuming of course.

"You can't be serious..." He trailed off, looking at all of their faces.

"Hibiki..." Aoi growled, not wanted him to continue the sentence.

"... you're afraid of them, aren't you?" Hibiki exclaimed, looking like he had just recieved a revelation from the gods above himself.

"We're not." Mika retorted, looking miffed.

"Most definitely not." Hayato continued, his face turned pointedly away though.

"Well... Byakuya can be a bit intimidating." Shiora said hesitantly.

"Shiora!" The other three turned on her, a mutinous look in their eyes.

"He is." Shiora just shrugged. "There's no way to say this in any other form. He's intimidating with all his noble airs and all and she scares the living daylights out of most people. The fact that they haven't quit yet scares me even more though to be honest."

"If they ever got along..." Aoi trailed off, lost in thought. She shuddered. "Humanity and all of the universes would be doomed."

"I think that's being a bit harsh Aoi..." Mika said meekly, looking completely and utterly unconvinced at her own reasoning though. It looked more like she actually agreed with Aoi's point of view and that she was just trying to prevent the whole situation and discussion from escalating.

"It's why I tweaked the results a bit to get them to land together." Hibiki stated matter-of-factly. The others turned to him and stared. They had suspected as much but had never expected him to actually admit it.

"You what?" Hayato spluttered, a murderous look entering his eyes. "You. Did. What?"

"Come on now Hayato, it's not as if you hadn't guessed that I'd done as much. And anyways, with their personalities, they would have ended up working together at some point. And even if it would just have been fate tempting our patience and sanity." Hibiki shrugged again. "And anyway, now we can't change it. They've been working together for two and a half months. That's more than either of them managed with anyone else."

"I have to stop this world disaster from happening. Otherwise you can go and prepare a rope for me for when I get back. I'm going to need it." This time Hayato got up and quickly began to make his way for the entrance, managing to not walk into something again.

"I'll go with him. I need to prevent him from making a fool of himself." Aoi took off after him, worry written clear across her face.

"They'll need a healer." Mika ran after the other two, leaving Shiora and Hibiki staring after them.

"Why don't we go too Shiora dear? Just for the sheer fun of it of course." Hibiki smiled charmingly at her.

"Some day in the not too distant future someone is going to kill you Hibiki." Hibiki just grinned boyishly. "But I guess I have no choice. Someone needs to protect Aurora from Hayato's wrath." And with that the remaining two professors took off too, leaving all of the students who would come and look for them later wondering as to where their whereabouts were.

~.~.~.~.~

"I would never have guessed that you were so bad at dancing Byakuya." Aika laughed at the pained expression that came across his face. "Especially since it's you, I thought you would know how to dance." She prodded him some more before his foot connected with hers once again.

"There was never a need to." Byakuya practically growled.

"But how did you manage to avoid dancing at all those parties that your grandfather always drags you to?" Aika wondered as she stared up at the handsome man whom she considered as one of her closest friends.

Byakuya cast a look of superiority at her. "Oh come on Byakuya, you can't be serious. No way. You simply avoided it?" Aika's incredulous look caused Byakuya to snort in a way that was considered most unmanly and not at all as behaviour that befitted the Kuchiki clan's heir.

"Come on Byakuya, try and lead her a bit more!" Tsukiko called at him from the bench on which she was seated at a safe distance away. Far enough away at least to avoid any damage that he might unintentionally cause. That didn't save her from being skewered by his look though.

Tsukiko laughed and Byakuya groaned internally, his expression growing pained again. That morning Aika had come by to try and interrogate him on why he and Ichiro weren't getting along that well at the moment. That was when she had met his cousin Tsukiko and in his opinion it was a certain recipe of disaster and doom. At least it was certain doom for him that these two women were working together.

Tsukiko had heard about the upcoming partner's ball and while both he and Ari had been perfectly content in making up some kind of excuse to not attend, his cousin had obviously not heard of their ingenious excuses and had been planning to ambush him with a dance teacher. Because she knew that he didn't dance. And he was sure that she was doing this solely to torture him, not to help him to learn how to dance.

It was about after stepping on Aika's foot for the twentieth time or so that he had remembered that he was supposed to meet with Ari today for some training. And that was when he realised that he was completely and utterly done for. He was already an hour late and she would chew off his ear about not telling him that he was going to be late for whatever stupid reason. And it would look better anyway if he was off the whole day. Maybe then she'd believe him if he told her that he'd been poorly. On second thought though he knew it wouldn't work. But it was worth a try anyway.

Another hour later and he wished he had gone to Ari after finding some really strange excuse for his cousin and Aika. Because dancing was definitely worse than being chewed out by Ari. Hundreds of times worse. Right now he'd love to go and fight her and the hollows simultaneously. It would tonnes better than this.

Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get your wish for was a saying well-known to all. A few minutes later Byakuya wished that he could have remembered that.

~.~.~.~.~

"So this is the Kuchiki mansion." Ari looked the large gates up and down appreciatively. Despite her misgivings about nobles and all she couldn't deny that the place appeared extremely well-built. And it also looked well taken care of. Something that could not be said of most of the mansions she had seen. Yes they looked great and splendid and noble. They were meant to impress the people who came for an audience, a visit or simply impress those who strolled past. Although most people here were carried around anyway in some sort of pre-carriage thing.

Yet this place looked as if someone actually cared about what condition the buildings were in. It endeared her to this place more than the others. She snorted in disdain at herself. What exactly was wrong with her head today. She'd come here on impulse and she'd always sworn she'd never set foot in this sector again unless hell had frozen over. She scratched the back of her head. Great, now she had to make sure hell froze over too, otherwise she'd have one heck of a lot of explaining to do to her brothers. And to Kaien. And the rest of Squad 13. And Hinode of course too. Hinode knew just as well as her brothers that she hated this part of town.

Sighing heavily she took a step forward and knocked at the large gates. She was in hell anyway, why not step right into the centre of it? But there was no answer. Frowning again she knocked once more. What was wrong here? Normally these rich houses were guarded like fortresses. Never having been one to be particularily shy she pushed the doors open. Geez, they weren't even locked.

Taking a tentative look around she stuck her nose in the air. Sniffing slightly she nodded to herself. It smelt like there was no one around. Her senses had always been hightened. It was why she normally hated crowded places. Her hightened senses caught every smell and sound in the vicinity. It was darned annoying most of the time. Walking forward she looked for the front door. There had to be one around here somewhere, right?

Suddenly her ear twitched to the right. She could hear dance music. It was definitely faint, sounding as if it came from slightly further away across the grounds but it was most definitely the kind of music one heard at balls. The logical part of her mind battled with her curiousity on whether to go and check it out or not. Her curiousity won.

Using the flash step the music suddenly got louder as she turned a corner along with a very loud "Ouch!". She smirked. Someone obviously didn't have a lot of luck with their dance partner. That was most definitely the sound of someone having stepped on someone else's foot.

"That was the sixtieth time Byakuya!" The same voice wailed. Wait a minute. Had that voice just said Byakuya? Her temper took a turn for the worse. He was over two hours late because he was dancing? Her step quickened.

"Will you stop being so lost in thought?" The same voice continued her complaints.

"I'm sorry Aika, I told you when _someone_ ambushed me this morning that I absolutely cannot dance." Byakuya's voice had a thick layer of annoyance in it.

"Oh come on now Byakuya. I'm sure that you would do much better if you weren't zoning out so often." Another female voice added.

"I have to agree with Lady Tsukiko in this case my lord. You do seem terribly preoccupied this morning." That voice sounded distinctly male and also had the ring of a teacher to it. So he had a dance instructor as well? Ari let loose a short string of curses under her breath. And she had actually been worried about his health. He was _so_ going to pay. He was not going to be let off easy on this.

As she turned the final corner with her sword drawn and a steely glint in her eyes the second voice started again. "It's not as if you have to be anywhere Byakuya. You don't even have a regular partner so I'm sure your partner won't mind if you're not here today. In fact I think that most would actually be glad considering your absolutely warm demeanor. Unless it's some simpering girly-girl of course." The voice came from a woman sitting on a bench not too far away, smiling in a way that was obviously indicating that she enjoyed his distress.

Ari heard subdued snickers from somewhere down the corridor that went along the side of the wall. So that was where the guards had gone. Enjoying the young lord's distress too. And by the smell of it it wasn't only the guards but some servants too. Nobody had noticed her yet though despite the deadly aura that was coming off of her in waves.

"Well actually..." Byakuya began.

"No Byakuya, the lady is perfectly right. It isn't as if you have anywhere to go right?" In surprise all heads snapped to her. Byakuya just turned in horror.

"Ari..." he stuttered, for once looking scared out of his wits. So he had noticed the absolutely dark aura surroundig her.

"Oh don't start that with that _my lord_." She said pointedly starting to move towards him, her sword still pointed directly at him.

And that was about the time when all hell broke loose. Byakuya dived for his sword standing at the side, managing to bring it up just in time to avoid a really nasty cut that would have been inflicted on him otherwise. The guards, having noticed her weapon, had jumped up and out of their hiding places to aid him. Aika had rushed back to Tsukiko's side, both women hiding behind the quivering dance director. And five professors burst into the court, adding to the general confusion that was already taking place.

"I forgot to send a note." Byakuya huffed out, having managed to get up and was now sparring heavily with her. She raised her eyebrow at him.

"I honestly was too preoccupied after being ambushed this morning. It wasn't my intention." That earned him a stab in the side. She was obviously more than just slightly annoyed at him him.

"Do you have any idea how much freakin' effort it took just to get to this sector?" She snarled at him and he winced. He knew that she hated this section of the Seretei with a passion that was beyond him.

"I am truly sorry Ari." His words were sincere and she paused for a second. Long enough for him to let down his guard. And then she brought her fist down onto his head. He landed in a most undignified heap on the ground sporting an absolutely beautiful bump. The guards and everyone else had stopped. Nobody had ever seen Byakuya being treated in such a manner before.

"What was that for?" He growled, the place where she'd hit him absolutely killing him.

"That," she said sweetly, "Was for not sending a note. And I guess it should serve as a nice reminder as to what will happen if you miss practice again for dance." She smirked at him. He just scowled up at her.

Getting up he sighed. "It's not as if I wanted to practice dancing. I absolutely detest it."

"That makes two of us." She grinned at him, her cheerful demeanor having come back after exacting the punishment from him that she had felt had been his due.

Completely unfazed by her quick changes in mood he continued. "And my grandfather is absolutely adament that I attend." He grimaced.

So did she. "So none of our excuses will have any effect?"

He shook his head sadly. "None what-so-ever. He has decided that I will go and that means that unless I am already dead or still dying beyond the phase of being able to get up that I will go to that damned ball." The spectators just watched at them in shock. A minute before the intruder had looked like she would kill the young lord, and now they were talking like they were the best of friends.

"So unless we die we're going, am I correct?" He nodded. She sighed in resignation. "I hate balls and I absolutely hate all the false pretenses that go there."

"That makes two of us." He repeated her earlier sentence and she laughed. That made the professors especially look at the pair in shock. When had these two begun to get along so well? Anyone else would have been dead by now. Well maybe not dead. But well on the way to the Squad 4 barracks at least.

"How did you get in? And just who the hell are you?" Three of the guards were pointing their swords at her neck. Ari didn't look fazed in the least. In fact, all she did was raise her brows at them in the way that asked 'what the hell do you think you're doing?'.

"Don't worry Mori, she's my partner from the Academy." Byakuya said dismissively, the warm spark now gone from his eyes once more. The men's jaws flapped open.

"And to answer your question as to how I got in, I got in through the front gate." Ari looked at the man with pity in her eyes. "I knocked several times but no one answered. And there weren't any guards around plus the door was unlocked so I just walked in." The men all stared at her in suprise, some of them going slightly red at her implications.

"What do you mean there were no guards?" Byakuya asked, his expression growing stormy.

"It's like I said, there were no guards in sight." Ari shrugged her shoulders, looking like she couldn't care one notch more or less about the whole situation.

Byakuya's expression grew thunderous and the men, as well as all of the gathered servants scurried off, afraid that he might take out his wrath on them. They all just prayed that he wouldn't tell his grandfather. If he did then they were all done for.

Turning around, still looking angry, Byakuya spied his professors standing there looking slightly forlorne.

"Professors, what are you doing here?" Byakuya's brows crinkled slightly.

"I came here to divert a disaster." Hayato said.

"I came here to prevent him from making a potential idiot of himself." Aoi added.

"I thought everyone might need a healer. I was right." Mika continued.

"I came because it looked interesting." Hibiki grinned his usual devil-may-care grin. "And I wasn't disappointed." Everyone scowled at that.

"I came because everyone else was going anyway." Shiora just shook her head disbelievingly, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"You thought I would kill him." Ari's statement caused all of her professors to start a loud protest of denial. "You did." She shrugged her shoulders sadly. They all grew silent after that.

"I knew you wouldn't." Byakuya's comment earned him an elbow into his side.

Nobody noticed the spark that was growing in Tsukiko's eyes. Grinning devilishly to herself before putting on a mask of complete sincerity she walked towards the scene where there had just been what could only be correctly termed as a completely chaotic scenario.

"Say..." She looked at Ari expectantly, waiting for her to state her name. Byakuya started to get a bad feeling at the gleam in her eyes.

Ari obviously thought so too since her response came out hesitantly. "Ukitake, Aurora Ukitake."

Tsukiko was now sporting a wide grin. "Can you dance?"

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><p><em> AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter is one I have been envisioning since the very beginning. Hopefully it will turn out as good as I hope it is. Anyway a bit of fluff in the next chapter. Not much, but a bit. ;)_

_ As usual thank you for all the support you guys give me, it means a lot. =)  
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_ Please read and review! =)_


	13. Dancing

**Memories**

**Chapter 12 - Dancing**

As a petal fell onto his nose Byakuya sneezed. The small cherry blossom petal had woken him from his reverie. He had just been staring off into space, remnicising about past times. He should stop doing this, he knew that much. It most certainly wasn't good for anyone, especially not him, to be spending a whole day doing nothing but staring off into space. But somehow he knew that despite all he said, next year he would be found in this very spot once again.

Lost in thought while staring down at the delicate blossom he failed to notice the one person who had been watching him for quite a length of time now, as well as the two inquisitive people who had just arrived.

~.~.~.~.~

"What?" Ari just blinked stupidly at Tsukiko. Byakuya had his mouth flopping open.

"I was just wondering if you could dance." Tsukiko smiled at the two people who were standing there looking like dazed owls. Oh, and looking at her like she had lost her dear mind. Although they weren't the only ones doing so. All of the professors present were staring at her as if she had lost her marbles.

"Um, I can. At least I could when I had to dance the last time." Ari was looking at her with extreme uncertainty. On top of that she was wearing a dubious expression on her face.

Byakuya looked like he wanted to murder her.

"Okay, it's decided then." Tsukiko clapped her hands together. "Since it's really too late to go to practice now anyway, the least I can do is offer you some lunch after the trouble that I have caused." Ari began to protest. "No really, it's the least I can do."

Aika suddenly realised what she was doing and joined in.

"Yes, and my feet are absolutely killing me after the past two hours of having Byakuya step on them." Byakuya glared at her. "Why don't you stay and help us Ukitake-chan? After all, both of you will have to dance at the upcoming ball in a month's time."

Pure horror overcame Ari's and Byakuya's faces. "No really, you don't have to..." Ari began, intent on weaseling her way out of this predicament.

"It would be asking too much..." Byakuya seconded.

"I think it's a wonderful idea." Hibiki said, and all eyes turned to him. Ari and Byakuya stared at him open-mouthed, but the person with the largest look of horror was most definitely Hayato. Aoi groaned. Was that man just this obnoxious or was he really on a suicide mission?

Tsukiko didn't know why the professor had helped them but then again was glad he had. Now there was no way for them to avoid the dancing session that she had planned. This was turning out to be even better than she had expected.

"You've missed out most of the practice anyway and this could be most beneficial to both sides." Hibiki continued. "So with that all in order now I think it is time for us to take our leave." Smiling devilishly back at the two flabbergasted students and winking quickly and Tsukiko and Aika he threaded one of his arms through Aoi's and with the other he pulled Hayato along with him. "Until later!" And with that he was gone. Shiora and Mika sighed heavily, they were most definitely entering a battlefield between Aoi and Hayato on one side and Hibiki on the other. But essentially they had no choice but to leave, their job here was done.

"Now, back to business." Ari and Byakuya turned to Tsukiko. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you had a permanent partner Byakuya?" Tsukiko rounded in on him, appearing more than just slightly annoyed.

"Because I feared that this kind of thing would happen." Byakuya gestured vaguely around himself. "Maybe not dancing, but definitely this kind of scenario." Tsukiko scowled at him.

"Can I leave?" Ari asked, breaking up the argument that was starting escalate.

"No!" Both parties shouted back at her, Byakuya only realising afterwards as to what exactly he'd said. And stomping off towards the dining room to prevent anyone from seeing the blush that followed.

"I was just asking." Ari muttered as she trudged after Byakuya, her growling stomach getting the better of her. Once both of them had rounded the corner, with the dance instructor in hot pursuit of the food himself, somehow sensing that he would need it to get through the next few hours.

Once she had made sure everyone was out of earshot while at the same time following the three of them Tsukiko rounded in on Aika. "He never told me he had a partner!" She whispered excitedly, her eyes bouncing up and down like bright balls of fire.

"Ichiro never told me about it too." Aika said in confusion. Usually her brother told her everything. Could this maybe be the reason as to why the two best friends weren's getting along as well anymore?

"This is going to get sooooo interesting!" Tsukiko squeaked happily. Aika looked at her dubiously. While she was happy that Byakuya had a permanent partner, the way the two had treated each other was positively confusing. Oh well.

Tsukiko grinned. She wasn't exactly sure how well those two worked together but she had never seen her cousin acting so freely around anyone, even her. And that said something. And she wasn't exactly sure but she thought she'd seen a blush on his face towards the end after both of them had shouted 'No!' at this Ari person. This was going to be fun.

~.~.~.~.~

After filling her stomach with, admittedly, extremely tasty food, Ari felt like she could be slightly more diplomatic. It wouldn't hurt to dance with Byakuya and what his cousin had said was true, they were going to have to dance together in a month anyway. But she had made one thing very clear while they had all eaten lunch. If word of this ever got out, then Tsukiko and Aika could begin preparing their funerals. The dance instructor was included in this threat of course. As well as anyone else who would be watching secretly. Byakuya had supported her on that point whole-heartedly.

So now they were back in the courtyard, standing opposite one another and waiting for the dance instructor to begin with his long sermon of instructions. Really, it would be much easier if they let them find it out by themselves. It wasn't as if they were going to remember what the instructor had said in a minute anyway.

And she for one could dance. She had had the typical upbringing in the Ukitake household before moving out with her brothers. And that included vigorous dance lessons. Not as if she'd ever needed them much though. The Ukitake's had only once questioned her and Grimmjow on their past, and that had been at the very beginning. They had refused to say anything and since then they had asked again. Even Jushiro had kept silent about what he thought their past was. They would have been shocked to find out that she had Grimmjow had once been part of a noble household and that only the relentless hunt on them by their uncle prevented them from having a place to call home. But that was another story for another time. Fact was, she could dance, and quite well at that.

"Just turn on the music. We're already making fools of ourselves anyhow." Ari turned to Tsukiko and the other woman nodded. Aika just watched from her position on the bench. Softly at first the first tones to the music began to float across the courtyard. She tilted her head to the side slightly, recognising the melody of the music. It wasn't a very well-known piece, but it was incredibly beautiful. Allowing herself a few seconds to fall into her own memories she closed her eyes, a soft smile gracing her lips.

Opening them again she looked at Byakuya and saw a completely calm expression that somehow seemed to be in wonder at her own. She smiled. "Let's begin, shall we?" she said quietly, knowing that no more words were needed. He nodded at they both stepped forward, letting themselves be swept up in the music.

Looking at the two from the sidelines, Tsukiko and Aika gaped in surprise. Ari had said that she could dance a little yet the instructor to their left was gaping at her in wonder himself. She couldn't just dance, she seemed to actually float across the ground. It was as if the music had invoked some different person in her, a noble, graceful person. Gone was the fiery-tempered person from before and left behind was only the serene and calm woman who seemed to become one with the music and light that filtered around them.

And Byakuya was following suit. Ari was a wonderful dancer and that somehow seemed to awaken some inner gracefulness that he himself possessed. Not once did he step on one of her feet. Both of them twirled 'round and 'round, lost in the moment. And seemingly lost in time.

Byakuya held his breath in wonder. He had never felt like he felt right now. It felt as if he were flying, floating across the courtyard. The moment was truly magical and somehow the tiny person in front of him was responsible for it. As if by second nature, they took turns in leading their dance, no words were ever required. The music truly was all that they needed.

Suddenly he became aware of how close they were to each other. She felt warm in his arms, as if she belonged there. He shook his head mentally, what in heaven's name was he thinking? She was his partner for goodness sake. Not some kind of noble that he was being forced to court. Or courting out of his own initiative for that manner.

And as they twirled around he became more and more aware of her.

~.~.~.~.~

Ari smiled as she looked up at Byakuya. He seemed to have relaxed from his former anxious self. He detested dancing, that much was obvious yet right now he seemed at ease and that pleased her. She couldn't comprehend how Ichiro's sister had said that he had stepped on her feet so often. So far he hadn't stepped on her's even once.

She was however surprisingly aware of how close they were to one another. She swore that the other times she had danced she hadn't been this aware or even close to her partner. It felt as if the air between them was electrified, jumping with sparks. Taking another turn she leaned in and rested her head against his chest. It was part of the dance routine and all present knew it. She hadn't expected it to feel so comfortable though. She hadn't expected it to feel so... right.

What was she thinking? This shouldn't feel right. This should be feeling wrong. Well... maybe not wrong, but definitely not as comforting as it was feeling! He was her partner for crying out loud! And... although she hated to admit it, he was a noble. Nobles lived on different planes of existence. They didn't live in the same world as nearly everyone else did. They didn't know of the pain and suffering one had to endure in the 'normal' world.

She swallowed and her face in his chest, not really hearing his sharp intake of breath. She was too lost in her own thoughts. She had once been at the top end of the scale of nobles. Her family had been coveted by all, everyone had wanted to be in their favour. And then then accident had happened. Only she guessed it couldn't be termed an accident anymore. After their small group had been split up by various circumdstances and only she and Grimmjow had remained they had started to learn the truth.

The horrible truth that her uncle had murdered her parents and the whole household.

They had supposed to die too that night. And to this day she didn't know why they hadn't perished from that explosion.

The explosion that had resulted in her and the others changing. At the beginning they had thought that it had only been their hair, that the explosion had only had changed the colour through some strange chemicals. Then they started to notice the other things. Their heightened senses. Their extremely excellent night vision. The way that they didn't seem to age. It had frightened them all so much at the time. It had taken her a very long time to console herself with the past. In some ways she was still fighting the inner demons from back then.

It was around then that their abilities had started to evolve. They barely noticed it at first. At the time of the explosion they had been in another dimension altogether. Yes, their dimension had been linked quite closely to the Soul Society but they hadn't actually been _in_ the Soul Society.

That was when they had started to travel between the worlds. And in each world their bodies simply adapted to become whatever the surrounding species was. In Hueco Mundo they became hollows. In the Soul Society they were souls with extremely high spiritual pressure. In the World of the Living they were humans with extraordinary abilities. But they never once returned to their home world. The one where they had come from and where it had all started.

And they couldn't die. That was perhaps the most frightening thing of all. Whatever had occured during the explosion had taken away their ability to die. If they died in one world they simply reappeared in the next.

And that was completely disregarding their abilities from before the explosion. Even before the explosion they had been called the 'wonder children'. They had had strange and magical abilities, abilities beyond compare. Those abilities had only been strengthened by the explosion and even now, five thousand years later, she knew that both Grimmjow and her had difficulty at times to keep those powers hidden and locked away.

Many would have seen this twist of fate as a blessing. She most certainly didn't. And neither had any of the others. Living forever did have its downside after all. You saw way too many people close to you die. She had told herself again and again not to settle down somewhere, not to get involved in what happened in the world that you currently resided. But that was before her uncle had started hunting her and Grimmjow down like animals, killing anything or anyone who stood in their way. That had led them right into the Soul Society about a hundred years ago. And straight into the arms of the Ukitake family.

They had fallen in love with the two twins quickly, adopting them into their family, going against what most people believed to be right. And they had settled down quickly, the bustling family life melting away the sheet of ice that had formed around both her and Grimmjow's hearts.

Sadly she looked on and then tore herself back into the present, away from the open wounds and aching scars of the past. Right into Byakuya's concerned eyes.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya had noticed how Ari had suddenly seemed to be lost in thought and when she looked up at him again he was startled to see the intensity within her gaze. It was around about then that the world truly appeared to stop turning. Both of them seemed lost in each other's gaze and the petals that were falling from the trees appeared to dance around them in slow motion, never moving too much, nor too little for their perception of time.

Tsukiko caught her breath as she looked at the two of them. For a moment it had seemed that they had been caught in each other's eyes, something she'd only ever heard about from other love-struck people or from various different scrolls. Scrolls that neither her parents nor the rest of her family would ever find out about though. They were all safely hidden underneath one of the floorboards in her room, far away from the prying eyes of her relations and friends.

All too soon the music came to an end for all of them. The dance instructor proclaimed that they were perfectly capable of dancing within a month's time and that he would only come in again for two days a week to make sure that they knew all the dances that they would have to master before the month was up. With that he left, finding it completely incomprehensible how such a great dancing talent had been concealed from him so far.

Ari and Byakuya, both completely intent on making sure that nobody ever found out about them taking dancing lessons, much less dancing together, cornered both Aika and Tsukiko before Ari left to go and do some housework back at the barracks. Both of them had to swear to breathe a word of this to a living, or dead, soul and that they would pay the consequences should they even think about telling anyone.

After that Ari had left too to go back to the barracks, her mind in turmoil. Byakuya, equally unsettled, instantly went to the personal training grounds within the Kuchiki mansion and began to vigorously train his sword skills. He managed to destroy two of the practice puppets and also managed to dislodge the heads of another three. Tsukiko and Aika both went back to the tea room and proceeded to drink some tea before setting out to do some shopping. Over the course of the past five hours the two of them had surprisingly become close friends, and since neither of them had many other people which they could count to that circle, they decided to do more things together from now on.

It was of course, without being doubted or mentioned, that a lot of their future shared activities would include matchmaking. In particular, the matchmaking of their close friends and family.

* * *

><p><em> AN: Halfway through this chapter I managed to succumb to that horrible disease known as writer's block. Well over it now, I am glad that the chapter turned out as it did. It may be a bit shorter than the previous ones but I do hope that the content makes up for it... ;)_

_ I would also like to thank anyone who put this story or author on their lists, believe me, the support is greatly appreciated. =)_


	14. The Exams

_ A_/_N: First I would like to thank anyone who has put this story or it's author on their lists, thank you so much for your support guys. =)_

_ And now to the chapter. This chapter was quit__e difficult to write. I wasn't sure whether to include some parts or leave others out and before I knew I had ended up with this. It's quite a fair bit longer than the other chapters but hopefully it's worth it. Anyways, I'll let you guys be the judges of that. ;)_

_ Please R and R! =D_**  
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* * *

><p><strong>Memories<strong>

**Chapter 13 - The Exams**

The dancing lessons sort of became part of their everyday lives. They danced one or two hours each day either learning the new dances, as in Byakuya's case, or simply relearning most of them, as it was with Ari. Neither mentioned anything about them and neither talked about that very first dancing lesson. They both decided to pointedly ignore it.

Which of course irked Tsukiko and Aika to no end. But even they could see that if the two most stubborn people in the Soul Society weren't willing to talk about it or even mention it then they most certainly would be unable to do anything about it. And that called forth a great deal of grumbling from both of them. And since Byakuya was sadly present for a lot of these rants at the start he quickly found out how to escape the two females. Something they most definitely did not appreciate.

Walking to his residence beside Ari Byakuya reflected on the past few weeks. He and Ari practically told each other everything by now. Which was relieving. He hadn't even told Ichiro as much as he had told Ari, something which constantly surprised him. And he somehow knew that the same went for her. By now they had ceased to constantly fight over every miniature thing, although they still argued in fair amounts. Most of it was simply teasing by now though. They could even simply walk in a comfortable silence next to each other like they were doing now. To him it was still a constant wonder. Who would have thought that Aurora Ukitake was so easy to be around.

He and Grimmjow got on relatively well too. And Captain Ukitake was immeasurably kind. At times Byakuya wished that his grandfather would take several pages out of Jushiro's book and apply them to his own running of the Squad 6 barracks and family. The Ukitake's were a loving family, constantly teasing each other and laughing. There was an equality and openness to them that Byakuya had never seen before. He felt truly priveleged to become included in their circle of close friends. And the Squad 13 barracks were open and liberating, something was always going on. Lately he found himself on those grounds more and more often.

But while the partnership with Ari was going well his friendship with Ichiro was going downhill. His friend simply couldn't understand how Byakuya even talked to Ari. That she was one of the most intelligent people he knew didn't seem to phase Ichiro. The girl was a demon in his eyes and nothing seemed to be able to change that. Ayane seemed to be a great influence on that opinion though. No matter what Byakuya said or tried to say, Ichiro blatantly ignored any critique of his partner. And these differences in opinion caused the void that had been starting to grow between the two friends to grow larger and larger.

The partnership between Ayane and Ichiro didn't seem to be going to well either though. Ayane still flirted with every other guy that she met. And she flirted nearly viciously with him. He gave her the cold shoulder each time though, he was starting to despise her and how she treated those around herself. In the course of the past few weeks she had had at least two known boyfriends and who knew how many secret ones. And each time Ichiro saw her with some other guy, his face became contorted in pain and jealousy. Byakuya truly didn't know why Ichiro continued to try and fool himself. As Ari had stated at one point, the guy was probably too far gone into love to even try and think logically about the whole situation.

And Ari's friend, Hinode, was still floating around partnerless. And while she wanted a partner, as was only natural, she seemed perfectly happy that she wouldn't have to take part in the half-year qualification exams. Ari and himself were taking part in them this year. It went without saying that you had to have a permanent partner to do them, how else would you have the necessary trust in your partner otherwise.

What both of them found humorous though was the fact that most people still thought that they despised one another and were constantly fighting. He knew that most people didn't understand why either of them had quit. Ichiro belonged to that number, along with Ayane and Hinode. And his teachers were in a deep despair over the situation. Secretly the two of them laughed about it. They couldn't wait to see their faces when they aced this exam. And they would ace it, there was no way in hell that they would fail.

And so the day of the exam came. Due to complications with the venue the ball had been put on the same day...

~.~.~.~.~

"We're number twenty-five." Ari looked up at Byakuya and he nodded. They had both arrived early so that they could view the running order in peace and quiet. They were near the start and that pleased them. Byakuya had been told by his grandfather most explicitly that he were to arrive at least five hours before the ball to get ready, something that he had originally been quite annoyed about.

And yet both were apprehensive about their exam. They had spent the past three weeks planning the exam as well as fighting strategies. That didn't change the fact though that they really didn't know what was coming up in the exam and whether their plans would work out. One could never really be sure they guessed. That didn't help to calm their nerves though. It wasn't as if they they'd show anyone else the state of their minds though. That would be insulting to their images and the reputations they had built up. They smirked at each other, knowing full well how the other was feeling. The past few weeks had after all helped them in understanding each other quite well.

Grimmjow grimaced from the stands. When Ari had left that morning Jushiro had insisted that the two of them come along as well to watch her, waking him up quite unpleasantly. He hadn't thought that he would have to go. After all, he didn't have a permanent partner yet. Yet he knew that if he said that he had 'forgotten' about Ari and Byakuya and their exam then he would be forced to do something like clean the barrack toilets for the next few weeks. No thanks. And thus here they were, attempting to make themselves comfortable in the stands. He somehow had the feeling that this would be a long day for all of them. And to top it off he would have to go to that horrible ball later on. Sadly it was compulsory for all students, not just for those with partners.

Looking down at his younger brother Jushiro smiled. Grimmjow wasn't happy about being here, he knew that much. He was looking forward to it though. As he looked over at Ari and Byakuya he saw them smirk at each other. He shook his head as he attempted to make himself more comfortable. Those two never failed to amaze him. Byakuya and Ari had both bloomed due to their partnership as far as he could see. Yes, they did butt heads on nearly every occasion and yes, they did still argue a lot. But he could also see what most couldn't, even Grimmjow hadn't seen it yet. Those two were so different that they fit together perfectly. Like hot and cold and north and south those two matched. They worked together well and complimented each other's skills.

He had once secretly watched one of their joint training sessions. Once you got over Ari's tendancy to hit the poor guy when he didn't listen to what she had to say it had actually become quite interesting to analyse their different skills. And being a captain of one of the thirteen court guard squads he was quite capable to do so.

Neither got reiled up in a fight. They both had an 'icy' mask that they always wore when fighting, never showing their emotions or intentions. Apart from when they fought each other. Then nothing stopped them from showing any opinion they had of the other. Both were also very perceptive. They knew exactly what to say and when to say it to annoy and prod any enemy that they were fighting against. He didn't know how the two of them did it, but somehow they always managed to sound scathing when they were fighting someone else.

But what had definitely surprised him the most at the time was their ability to communicate without saying anything. If he went left then she went right. If she was coming from above then he would distract the enemy so that she could deal the finishing blow. Yes, they would argue about it but they would argue about it afterwards. During their fighting they were an entity, one unit. He wasn't sure how they managed to do it or when they had developed this understanding. But one thing was certain, attempting to partner these two with anyone else after this would be futile, they were too synchronised now to do that.

This would certainly be an interesting fight.

Ichiro scowled over at Byakuya and Aurora. He didn't know why but them being together rubbed him the wrong way. And not just because Ayane hated Aurora with a passion. Byakuya was changing before his very eyes and he didn't know how to tell his friend this. He had the feeling that his friend was slipping further and further away from him and it frightened him. Byakuya and he had always been friends as long as he could remember and he didn't want that to change. He wasn't even sure why Byakuya even stayed with that girl as a partner, as far as he and anyone else could see, those two were constantly fighting over one thing or the other. It made no sense what-so-ever.

Looking at the schedule that hung in front of them he noticed with a groan that he and Ayane would be right before Byakuya and Aurora. He wasn't in the mood for this at all. He wasn't in the mood to listen to Ayane go on and on about how bad it had to be for Byakuya to be partnered with Aurora. He was honestly tired of it. Yet somehow he couldn't back out of their partnership. With a painful twist of his heart he had realised that he was still in love with her. And yet she still continued going out with other guys. It was breaking him down, tearing him up. But he couldn't stop himself from wanting to be near her. Unrequited love sure hurt a lot he thought as he stared at the mute forms of Aurora and Byakuya.

~.~.~.~.~

"And now we have group number twenty-four, Ayane Fukuda and Ichiro Hara." Aoi called into the microphone that the Academy had helped to set up. She felt apprehensive about the next two matches. Ayane Fukuda was a well-known personality in the Academy, everyone just had to know her, even the teachers. But not because she was an outstanding student. She was good, yes, but her boy-hopping and heart breaking tendancies were just as well-known.

When she and Ichiro had finally settled as partners a lot of the teachers had hoped that she would not continue with her wiles as she had before. Sadly, their hopes were not fullfilled. She continued exactly as she had before, to their great dismay.

And Byakuya Kuchiki paired with Aurora Ukitake was going to be more than just interesting. For many students and teachers it was going to be the highlight of this half-years exams. Everyone knew how stubborn both parties were and as far as everyone could see those two either spent their time arguing with one another or playing mute as they were now.

Aoi sighed in discontentment. Who knew that being a teacher could be so hard?

~.~.~.~.~

Ichiro breathed heavily as he dodged the spear that came towards him. When he and Ayane had entered the exam they had thought that they wouldn't have to fight anything but hollows. They were obviously wrong. Each match was different to the ones before. When he and Ayane had watched the previous matches, with not a lot or even the required amount of concentration to be honest, they had noticed that.

Somehow he and Ayane had gotten seperated. Both of them were now fighting their own seperate enemies. Quickly dodging the next attack he brought his sword slashing through his enemies stomach. The person quickly disintegrated into clouds of dust and he straightened up to look around and saw Ayane finishing off her enemy. That was the last of them. They had passed! He whooped in happiness and she briefly smiled a genuine smile before smirking in her self-satisfied manner. They had truly passed the exam!

As they made their way off the battle grounds the realisation of what had come to pass began to settle in. As well as the pain from the battle that they had just had. The long gash on his arm was bleeding profusely. The cuts and bruises on his legs and lower back were stinging like hell.

As he passed by Byakuya who was waiting his own turn his friend patted him on the shoulder with a wide grin on his face. Ichiro allowed the discrepencies from the past few weeks fall away as he grinned back at his friend. He had never thought that he would get this far. Yes, he had hoped for it of course, but actually reaching it made his heart sing in joy. He was partnered with Ayane, he had passed his exam and he was back on good terms with Byakuya. He didn't think that it could get any better than it was today.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya grinned at his friend. He had watched the whole battle intensely, willing for Ichiro to pass. And his friend had. He turned and grinned at Ari and she smiled back. She knew how happy he was about Ichiro's success. He still cared about his friend despite the distance that had evolved them during the past few weeks. She somehow knew that from this point on they would be the friends that they had been before. For some inexplicable reason that made her extremely happy.

Both of them turned their attention as they heard their names and number called out. A hush fell over the crowd. This was the match that they had been waiting for. Looking up at the crowd in the stands Ari saw her brothers sitting there and they both grinned and waved at them. Grimmjow gave her a thumbs-up and she laughed and waved back. Both of them made their way towards the gate and entered the arena.

Quickly they looked around each other, taking in everything. Every moment, every whisper of the wind, every sound. Their eyes flew over the surrounding landscape, recording every tiny and seemingly insignificant detail. Not a single sound passed between them. They didn't need to say anything. They knew exactly what the other was thinking.

Then the first hollow came. It was closest to Ari and she chopped it down with a quick slash of her sword. The next one appeared between the two of them, attempting to seperate them and disrupt any possible teamwork. Byakuya plunged his sword into this one. Both of them vanished in clouds of dust.

They breathed in quickly, letting the silence settle over the clearing once more. Her ears twitched as she heard the crowds hold their breath. The heavy sense of suspense hung the air, suffocating all of them.

With a screech the next three appeared and they nodded to one another. Right now they would have to concentrate on taking them down individually. Should more challenging ones appear they would band together once more. Each took off their own direction, slaying the hollows as they came. Yet they never lost track of the other, always keeping them there at the corner of their eyes. They could still hear the other's laboured breathing. The sounds of swords and claws clashing, the sound of their swift movements as they eliminated the hollows rang throughout the arena, silencing any other sound from the audience.

No one dared to move. No one dared to interrupt them by cheering or talking. Even whispering seemed to be taboo.

Ayane simply confined herself to glaring at her self-proclaimed rival, attempting to wound her with the power of hate.

Twenty minutes later both of them stood in the centre of the meadow back-to-back, staring out across the empty meadow. Nothing was moving. Yet they both felt a sense of apprehension. The main part of the test was still coming. It had seemed nearly too simply until now. Not easy, but simple. He had a slash on his leg that was beginning to hinder his movements and she had several cuts on her hand that made holding her sword difficult. She closed her eyes in an attempt to seek out any sort of energy form. He knew that she was rewarded when he heard her sharp intake in breath.

Something was coming. And it was coming fast.

Hibiki smirked from the sidelines. He felt like he had outdone himself this time. Those two had been doing incredibly well so far. Nearly too well if he might add so himself. They appeared to be working flawlessly and yet they were known to argue at least once every five minutes. He wanted to uproot them, shatter whatever teamwork they might have grudgingly worked out.

Both of them concentrated their eyes on the rustling bushes in front of them. Out walked the forms of Ichiro and Ayane. The real ones sucked in their breaths from the sidelines. Why was it appearing as if they were in the arena? Aoi looked at Hibiki in confusion. What did the tactical professor have in mind for those two? He was known for his mind games amongst the older students but was he really going to attempt that spell here?

Byakuya looked down at Ari, waiting silently for some kind of sign for her. The crowds and onlookers shifted uncomfortably as they watched the two on the viewing screen spell that had been set up. What was going on? What was he waiting for?

Unbeknownst to them, Ari's eyes drastically changed colours, shifting through all the colours on the known spectrum and many more. Byakuya tried to keep the wonder out of his eyes, he had only seen her do this a couple of times before. It still astonished him each and every time how she managed it. She had confided in him that she possessed powers beyond those of a soul reaper due to an accident many years prior. He knew that he was the only one apart from Grimmjow and maybe Jushiro who knew this. Hinode might know that her friend possessed strange powers but not much more beyond that. And since Ari had told him willingly, he was also able to see her powers while she was concealing them.

She looked up at him, her eyes returning to their normal deep, turquoise blue. The two bright orbs shone brightly, the after effects of her powers still present. The gold in them seemed to be shining more than ever and for a brief second he was mesmerised. He pulled himself back to reality and the situation at hand promptly.

She shook her head nearly indeterminably at him and it was all the answer he needed. These weren't the real Ayane and Ichiro, they were simply fakes, spells. Nothing more to it. Thus they could deal with them according to their prior discussed tactics. They wouldn't have to hold back.

They gave each other a quick, short nod and surged forward, catching the two figures off guard. Nobody had expected them to actually attack their classmates. Shock reverberated throughout the stands. Ayane shook in indignation. Nobody could attack her like that. Nobody. Especially not Aurora. With an angry snarl she ran forward through the gates, despite Ichiro's calls that she should get back. Angry himself Ichiro ran after her, intent on stopping both Byakuya and his partner. He couldn't care less about Aurora.

Ari and Byakuya allowed themselves a brief smile before pushing forward again, winning the obvious upper hand and crushing the two imposters into a corner. This was the final part of the test, the part to see how strong their partnership truly was. It was _this_ that they had been training relentlessly for, not for the hollows or even the exam. It was a test to test their partnership and trust. And they were intent on winning and passing it.

"So now you two are friends?" The fake Ayane asked with a smirk on her face.

"So you are actually going out." The fake Ichiro looked faintly disgusted if not condescending. Neither allowed themselves to be affected. They fought on, no matter what insult or comment was thrown their way. They couldn't let those two affect them. If they did then the imposters would have won the battle without a second thought.

Further and further back Ari and Byakuya pressed the two spells, injuring them greatly but never managing to deal the finishing blow. The imposters were faster and had better reaction times than the real ones, making it increasingly difficult for the already tired teenagers.

After five minutes of relentless attack Ari and Byakuya finally had them where they wanted them. But just as they were about to finish them off a battle scream filled the air behind them and Ari was just able to dodge the sword that came at her. Her side was slightly nicked by the blade but she ignored the small wound in favour of retreat. Byakuya's eyes filled with anger as he jumped back with her in unision, subtly steadying her as they came to a halt several metres back. Who had attacked them now?

In the confusion the two imposters vanished, seeking cover in the thicket surrounding them. The real Ayane and Ichiro had survived and both of them looked livid.

"You bitch!" Ayane screamed. Ari mentally winced. Ayane had always had a particularily annoying voice when she got agitated. It ceased to appear melodic and beautiful and simply represented the screech of a banshee. Byakuya saw Ari's powers working in her eyes and he knew those two were the real ones. Drat, now they couldn't kill them.

"Hibiki, what the hell is going on?" Aoi turned to her subordinate in slight panic, worry creasing her brow.

"I don't know." Hibiki had worry and panic, along with a for once healthy dose of fear, planted on his face. "I've lost track of the spells. I don't know which of them is real and which of them is not! It could even be a combination of any!"

Mika swallowed hard. This was bad, really bad. If they weren't able to tell them apart then how in heaven's name were those two supposed to? How had Ayane and Ichiro even gotten in in the first place?

"How dare you attack me?" Ayane screeched again, lunging forward. Byakuya intercepted the attack, knocking her arm aside. His expression was cold as ice. He wouldn't tolerate anyone attacking his partner like that. Especially not from Ayane.

Ari fended off an attack from Ichiro from behind, ignoring the hate that stood in his eyes. She knew why it was present but she also knew that she could show no mercy. These two were the real ones and they were enraged. The expressionless and icy masks on her and Byakuya's faces were probably only serving to rile them up even more. Deciding to proceed with the rest of their plan both shot back insulting comments, making the two nearly howl in rage. Ari kept a smirk to herself and so did Byakuya. Once you lost your cool in a battle you made mistakes. That was what they were counting on and it was working.

Byakuya caught Ari's eye and they knew what to do. She pretended to lunge forward, barely missing Ichiro's arm. A gleam appeared in Ichiro's eyes. She had made a mistake! He took his chance and proceeded to ram his own sword forward. She stumbled back, seemingly falling as Byakuya allowed Ayane to come perilously close to him. Ari did a backflip and landed on Byakuya's back. Everyone held their breaths. Those two were done for it now. Both Ayane and Ichiro had the upper hand, their was no way that they could come out of this alive or at the very least unscathed.

Ari smiled and Grimmjow felt a shiver go down his back. Crap. They had planned this. The two spawns of the devil had actually planned this and whatever it was it was working. He had seen that expression on his sister's face way too many times to not know what was going to happen next. He repressed the urge to call out for Ayane and Ichiro to run. Those two had already lost the moment they had decided to attack Byakuya and Ari in earnest.

Jushiro groaned. _Please dear God_, he prayed, _don't let Ayane and Ichiro die_.

Ari planted her hand on Byakuya's back as he crouched low. She did a perfect twist around hitting both Ayane and Ichiro square in their faces with her feet. Those two had come too close in their belief that they had won. They had underestimated them and now they would see the full effects of exactly that.

Vaulting herself off of Byakuya she landed on Ichiro's stomach, the action making the poor guy cough up some bile. She had been careful not to hit any organs. The sudden pressure on his stomach made the air rush out and he lost his grip on his sword. She kicked it away, her own sword pressed closely against his neck.

The force of Ari's kick made Ayane fly against a tree and suddenly Byakuya was in front of her, his own sword pressed against her neck, his other hand taking away hers. They were cornered and trapped. Fear played throughout their eyes.

Both of them closed them, sure that they knew what was going to happen next. The sudden release of pressure made them spring their eyes open. Ari and Byakuya had spun around and planted their swords in the stomachs of two people who looked exactly alike them. Spitting images in fact. Both had their hands raised with swords in their hands. Ari and Byakuya slashed through them, their bodies dissappearing in clouds of dust.

Hibiki sagged against the wall in relief. The spells had been destroyed. He promised himself not to mess with those kinds of things again. Well, maybe not never again but most certainly not in the near future, like, the next few weeks.

Ari and Byakuya simultaneously let out a sigh of relief, their fatique starting to show on their faces. They put their swords away and smiled at each other. Suddenly Ari broke out into a grin and Byakuya grinned back. The crowds suddenly seemed to unfreeze from their shock and the two of them began to make their way to the exit, towards the cheering spectators.

"We definitely need to refine that technique." Ari muttered as she elbowed him affectionately. She couldn't believe that it had gone so well. It had all been a theory, nothing more and nothing less. It had just been a plan. And that plan had worked out perfectly, better than she could ever have imagined it.

"We do, although that kick was pretty forceful for a midget." Byakuya smirked.

"Idiot, I may be small but I can still kick." She retorted, amusement written over her whole face though.

"Just saying, just saying." Byakuya threw up his hands as if surrendering and chuckled at her pretense of a miffed expression. Both broke out into laughter though, the happiness of having completed their task settling in.

"What do you mean it needs refining?" Ayane got up, anger lighting up her whole face. Ichiro still felt speechless. They had actually planned something? And something this elaborate to top it off?

"Well, we have to reduce our injuries." Ari said as if it was obvious. Both were bleeding profusely in several places, nothing too serious though.

"You mean you planned this?" Ichiro managed to grind out, anger at his friend starting to fill him up too.

"Well... yeah... We had the plan." Byakuya began.

"And we knew that those two were imposters, spells. We knew that they weren't the real you." Ari pointed to the spot where up until a few minutes ago, exact copies of them had stood.

"So we were doing everything according to our plan until you two popped up." Byakuya shrugged indifferently.

"So we just had to try some untested theories to get you two cornered. We riled you up because we needed you to crack and make a mistake. And you did." Ari really did look as if she couldn't care less at the moment. "Once we had you cornered we knew those two were bound to try and attack us from behind. We were pretty sure that they thought that we didn't know the difference."

"So it was all just a matter of time. We just had to wait until we had you cornered and they were drawn out." Byakuya cocked his head to the side. Ayane and Ichiro were looking at them like two gaping koi fish.

"But you didn't even talk once." Ayane spluttered. They couldn't have that good teamwork. They hated one another!

"We didn't have to." Ari shrugged. She had thought that it had appeared pretty obvious.

"But you hate each other!" Ichiro exclaimed in exasperation, not able to hold it in anymore.

Ari and Byakuya snorted. "We don't hate each other." Ari looked highly amused. Byakuya just shook his head in agreement. He still preferred to remain quiet most of the time around others.

"But... but... you always fight!" Ayane was feeling desperate by now. How could they not hate one another?

"We argue." Ari said.

"We don't fight." Byakuya retorted.

"We are two very different individuals. Discrepencies are bound to come up." Ari shrugged uncaringly as she looked at Ayane's dumbstruck expression with mild interest. She had never seen Ayane lost for words. Never.

When neither Ayane nor Ichiro said anything for several seconds Ari and Byakuya turned to each other once more and shrugged.

"I guess people see what they want to see." Ari said, obviously pondering the thought quite extensively.

"I guess they do." Byakuya said in agreement as he turned back briefly to look at his friend before turning back to Ari and continuing to discuss the various tactics they had employed throughout. Leaving the two behind them they made their way towards the exit, towards a crowd that hadn't heard what they had just discussed because of their loud shouts and talking, towards the people who continued to believe that the two of them hated one another.


	15. The Ball Part 1

_ A/N: First off I'd like to thank anyone who has put this story or its author on their lists. Believe me, it's deeply apprecisted. =)_

_Originally this was only supposed to be one chapter but it kept getting longer and longer so I split it in two. The second part should be out within the next couple of days. Enjoy! =D_

_ And please leave a review, any opinion of any kind are wonderful to hear. It really encourages me to write more and more importantly, faster. =P ;D  
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><p><strong>Memories<strong>

**Chapter 14 - The Ball Part 1**

"Come on Ari! Hurry up, will ya?" Grimmjow shouted into the general direction of his sister's bedroom. Her performance earlier that day in the exams had resulted in her literally becoming famous within seconds. How she and Byakuya had escaped the grounds was still a mystery to both him and Jushiro.

It was probably thanks to their mastery in the flash step. Apart from Yoruichi Shihouin those two were the fastest and the most proficient at the flash step currently. Yuroichi's protégée, Soi Fon, was also progressing incredibly fast at it. Byakuya and Ari still out-did her though, much to the young woman's chagrin.

When he and Jushiro had arrived back at the barracks Kaien had graciously informed them that she had arrived an hour prior and had already begun to make herself ready for the ball. At Jushiro's worried inquiry Kaien had been quick to reassure his captain that yes, his sister had been already treated for all her wounds and no, she did not want to be annoyed be any of her prying brothers.

And to their infintite annoyance she had spent the past five hours getting ready. Jushiro had simply rolled his eyes and told Grimmjow to be patient. To which Grimmjow had replied that he did not possess his brother's saintly patience. Jushiro had managed to surprise him by retorting that one had to be a saint to be able to cope with the two of them.

To be perfectly honest, Grimmjow had not expected Jushiro, his ever saintly brother, to ever be this quick or even sharp with words. He guessed he'd given his brother too little credit. It had illicited a smirk from him. And a very amused glint to the eye. To which Jushiro had promptly asked him not to test his patience, he was just as annoyed with Ari for taking this long as he was.

It had only taken Grimmjow and Jushiro an hour to get ready. Jushiro's prescence was required because he was one of the thirteen court guard squad captains. Kaien was also grudgingly coming along. None of them wanted to go in particular. But for all of them there had never been the option of saying. And sadly so.

The ball was fashioned to reflect the human styles from the World of the Living this year. Last year it had been feudal Japan. This one had called forth a _very_ sarcastic remark from both Jushiro and Kaien about the choice of costumes. Between the closed walls of the Squad 13 barracks, no critique was ever spared.

Jushiro was wearing a light grey suit that accented his slender physique. Ari always forced the medicine she made down his throat with a vigour. To be truthful, ever since she had begun making that medicine for their brother and making him take it once a day he hadn't been sick once. Yeah, he still had the occasional cough or cold, but that was only natural. The medicine made his frail condition stable and since then he had slowly begun to become strong again physically. The thin, snow-white, silken shirt he was wearing showed the effects of exactly that training.

Kaien was wearing a shadowy-grey suit in a similar shade to that of his captain. His shirt on the other hand was a pale green. It brought out the light green flecks that burned in his grey eyes. It had taken a lot of protest on his part but eventually Ari had convinced him to trust her judgement and wear the suit. That might have a lot to do with Miyako telling him that he look absolutely amazing. Everyone knew that he liked her a lot. Not that the poor lieutenant would ever admit it out though. For someone as outgoing as him, he was surprisingly shy once it came to admitting his feelings for her.

Everyone else knew though. Apart from Miyako of course. Sometimes it did make you wonder which one of them was more dense. Him? Or her? Who knew.

Grimmjow was wearing a pale blue suit which accented his hair and eyes. According to Ari it made him look incredibly handsome. Surprisingly his sister had this crazy vision of him asking out the girl he liked that night at the ball. Oh pfft. Tough chance that was going to be. Much like Kaien he was a sucker when it came to admitting feelings.

But for all the advice-giving that she'd been doing, Ari had not once shown them or even told them what she would be wearing. It had been a complete secret from the rest of the world. Even Hinode had come to Grimmjow in desperation to find out what his sister was wearing. Sadly neither brother had been of much help.

"Ari! We're gonna be late!" Jushiro cried through the door, attempting to speed her up a bit, and trying in vain to hide the slight worry at being late.

"Come on hotshot! We need to get rolling!" Kaien wasn't a very patient man normally. Under pressure he went more than just frantic. He was currently pacing up and down in their small living room.

"Coming!" Ari called exactly as they heard the door lock click.

Their mouths all fell open.

~.~.~.~.~

"Calm down Byakuya, I'm sure she's just a little late." Tsukiko smirked as she watched her cousin pace up and down in the courtyard in front of the ballroom.

"I'm not worried." Byakuya snapped back, breaking his continued pacing for just the few seconds that it took to glare at his favourite cousin.

"You're pacing." Aika decided to helpfully point out.

"I think we might have you creating a new hole in the ground here soon." Tsukiko couldn't help but smirk. She had never, not once in all the years she'd known Byakuya seen him this nervous.

Byakuya threw up his arms in exasperation. "Will you two shut it?"

Aika and Tsukiko glanced at each other and then burst out laughing. Byakuya glared at them, the murderous intent clear in his eyes. But that only made them laugh harder. Soon the tears were flowing as Tsukiko barely managed to stay standing straight. Aika had already given up and was sitting on the bench close by, trying her hardest to continue breathing.

If the situation weren't so serious, Byakuya would have smiled.

"Aika, what the hell is wrong?" They all turned at the sound of a voice from the shadows. Tsukiko and Aika continued to hiccup, attempting to pull the reins in on their laughter. Byakuya squinted and straightened as he saw who it was. It was Ichiro.

"No- nothing nii-san." Aika managed to get out before laughing again.

Byakuya let off a resigned sigh, rolled his eyes and went back to pacing. The action sent the two girls into new fits of laughter. Ichiro looked at them as if they were aliens or some other extremely strange creatures.

"Do you know what that's all about?" Ichiro jutted his thumb in the general direction of the two laughing females.

"Not really." Byakuya shrugged. So was everything alright between them again?

"Dead and buried?" Ichiro held out his hand, smiling a lopsided smile.

"Dead and buried." Byakuya grinned and took his friend's hand. They pulled each other close and patted another on the back.

"Sorry I was such a jerk the past few months. I see that you had it even harder." Ichiro smirked at his friend. The act that the two had given him this morning had shown him that those two had been working extremely hard, something that he and Ayane hadn't. It had shown him that no matter what happened, Byakuya still was his friend, even if they didn't approve of one another's partners.

"Nah, not really. Like you said, it's dead and buried." Byakuya smiled back. He was happy that they were on good terms again. Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind and spun him around.

"If one guy touches her, then you're dead meat Kuchiki." Grimmjow growled out before stomping off towards the ballroom entrance.

"I'm gonna kill her..." Captain Ukitake murmered as he marched past him and Ichiro. At least the girls had stopped laughing. He shortly inclined his head towards Byakuya before storming after his brother.

"Ignore them... their sister complex has settled in and made itself right at home." Kaien Shiba stopped by them as he stared after his captain and Grimmjow in wonder. "Never thought I'd see the day to be honest though. He will kill you if a guy as much as stares at her for more than the predescribed time of decency though. Not that I don't understand him." Kaien shrugged. "Good luck Kuchiki." With that he rushed after his captain, intent on making him see that Ari's dress was not too bad. Although he did feel kind of protective of her himself. He sighed, this was going to be a long night for him.

Curious Byakuya and Ichiro turned around. What had had the two brothers become so protective of their sister. They stopped breathing, their breath having gotten stuck in their throats.

They were sure that an angel had just descended and had decided to walk amongst them.

Ari walked towards the two of them. The dim light from the ballroom entrance was hitting her hair just right. The gold in her hair was glowing, giving her an ethereal glow. The silver tresses, normally tied up in elaborate designs that meant to keep them out of the way during the everyday life cascaded past her shoulders until her hips. Together the natural golden highlights woven together with the silver gave it the shine of being liquid gold and silver, rippling gently like a soft river with her ever movement. Positioned near her right ear was her signature cherry blossom, this time just a bud, holding back her fringe and other loose strands of hair out of her face. The bud was bespeckled with golden glitter dust, shimmering magically in the fair light.

Her eyes were shining like bright orbs of life. Out in the dark, young night her eyes appeared a deep, churning turquoise. The golden flecks within the eyes were bright candles, lighting up the fire of emotions and providing a miniature window into her soul. She had applied ever so little eye-shadow. It was the same gold glitter that was also applied to the cherry blossom bud, sparsely dispersed on her eyelids. This served to enhance the gold in her eyes, lighting up her whole face. Her eyelashes were naturally long and dark, framing her eyes and eliminating the need for any black lines that most women put around their eyes to accent their eyes.

Down the side of her face ran a tattoo. Normally it would have been hidden by her hair or by some kind of spell or covering paste. It was a flowing exotic design that was small but beautiful. He couldn't really tell what colour it was. It looked like it was multi-coloured. But that wasn't possible now, was it?

Her lips were full and lush, pulled up into a tentative smile that was aimed at him. He felt as if his breath was being sucked from his lungs as he stared at her smile. She had never looked so vulnerable yet strong at the same time. He knew that this wasn't something she normally did. She would try to be the wallflower and not be part of anything really. She would try to blend out. She hated nobility and attention and here she was, going out on a limb and risking it all to a certain extent. He admired her greatly for it.

Resting against her chest was her pendant, a small golden necklace that delicately wound itself around her neck, holding up a small diamond. The diamond was fashioned so that it looked like a small flower and it sparkled in all the colours of the rainbow. Byakuya had seen it several times before but he had never seen it this clearly.

That was when he noticed her dress. Now he understood why her brothers felt so protective. Nobody else should get to see her like this. Nobody but... him? No that couldn't be. He shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts.

Her dress was simple but beautiful. It wrapped itself around her petite frame delicately, accenting all the right curves in all the right places. It was the same deep turquoise blue that were also her eyes. It was strapless, exposing a little, but not too much, of her cleavage. The cut swung down low at her back, leaving half of her back exposed. It was straight up until her hips where the dress flared out in small and gentle waves. It was subtle yet stunning. And if you looked closely enough you saw that the ruffles that flowed down from her hips contained those tell-tale sparkles of gold that seemed to make up as much of her as anything else.

Along with that she wore simple turquoise ballet shoes that were flat and comfortable and he could see that as she stepped forward the silken ribbons from her shoes wrapped themselves up her legs. The dress was cut perfectly for dancing. The skirt flowed out far enough for all the dances that they would have to perform tonight. And he knew that they would be dancing. And there was no way in hell that he would let anyone but him dance with her. She was _his_ partner, not anyone else's.

"You look beautiful." He breathed out, having, through some divine miracle, found his voice once more.

A hint of a blush graced her cheeks. "Thanks." She smiled a genuine smile up at him, having arrived in front of him now. He held out his arm. She threaded hers through his. It fit perfectly.

Ignoring everyone else they walked towards the ballroom entrance. They didn't notice that they had arrived until they noticed the hush that had befallen the ballroom below them. They had paused shortly at the top of the stairs, being lost in one another's eyes. Unknowingly they had pulled everyone's attention onto them.

She looked like a goddess.

The usherer stared after her as they both descended down the staircase. It seemed like an angelic procession down from heaven itself.

The usherer remembered his place and wits. "Lord Byakuya Kuchiki and Lady Aurora Yasuko Ukitake." He called out quickly, stuttering slightly as he caught her eye and she smiled at him in thanks. The ballroom erupted in a soft rumble of murmers.

"Lady?" Byakuya asked surprised.

"I hate the title." Ari smiled back tightly.

"So you're a noble who's not a noble who hates nobles." Byakuya quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Basically." She grinned back, the gesture lighting up her whole face. He laughed.

As they made their way towards the dance floor the others parted before them like the red sea before Moses. They didn't even notice.

"He's absolutely screwed." Tsukiko leaned against a pillar at the bottom of the staircase. She and the others had taken a few seconds to get over their shock before they had rushed after them. Ichiro was still staring after them, incomprehension written all over his face.

"Why?" Aika turned to her newest friend.

"Because if he's not in love with her already then he will be by the end of the night. He will deny it all the way to hell and back of course though." Tsukiko shook her head sadly. Her cousin had always had the tendancy to not notice what was in front of him until it was threatened or gone.

"That absolutely and most definitely can not be Aurora Ukitake." Ichiro pointed after the couple.

"It is." All three heads turned to see Hinode come towards them. She was wearing a deep red gown that was not as modest as Ari's dress but most definitely not flamboyant or "slutty". A fair amount of cleavage was still showing and the slits at the side of the dress may not be obvious but they were still there. Her hair was piled on top of her head in curls in held there by tiny clips that sparkled like millions of teensy diamonds. She was wearing a simple necklace, one that bore her family emblem. She was incredibly happy that her mother hadn't made her wear the heavy family pendant as she had originally planned to make her wear.

"How?" Ichiro was voicing everyone's question. Aurora Ukitake was a fiery and often brash individual who did what she thought was right. She was an outcast of sorts due to Ayane's social exclusion and because she didn't care for society or any other "crap". Yet here she was, looking like an angel from the heaven's above, moving with a natural grace that was only born to the least of them. Aurora was a fighter, someone who didn't mind getting hurt if it meant that she was able to complete the mission. This woman looked as if she had been born into the nobles, been raised a noble if not royal and she projected a sort of air that made the people feel lucky just to be in her prescence.

"I don't know much of her past before she and Grimmjow got adopted into the Ukitake household but I do know that that woman is my best friend. She's always been like that. She's the kind of rare jewel that you find in the black basalt rocks near volcanoes. You need to crack open the case to reveal the true wealth, the true her. They do say that the blossoms that bloom the latest are often the prettiest and best-smelling of them all." Hinode smiled across at her friend. "Byakuya gave her the courage to do so and now she's shining like she has been to all of us who've known her for her. Her brothers know her as this person. I know her as this person. Byakuya knows her as this person."

They all swiveled their heads around to look at her, deciding to look away from the twirling pair that had everyone's eyes.

"He does. I've seen her over the past few months. She's mellowed out a bit. She's become more teasing. I once watched them walking home together." She grinned, lost in the memory. "Ari and him were eating ramen or something. They were joking. They were _laughing_. How often do you see either of them laughing? They both shut themselves off from the world, not wanting to get hurt by getting close to someone else. Yet they're both melting each other's icy and stone-hard hearts. Beneath all that ice there are some warm and loving hearts. I've seen them both smile properly. No one with a heart of stone can smile like they are." She nodded her head towards the two subjects of their discussion.

"You asked how Ichiro. Because she wants to. She doesn't like this kind of world because it brings back painful memories. But that part of her is still there. She just chooses when we are allowed to see that truly rare and stunning part of her. Today is such a night." Hinode's smile was heart-warming. Her friend was finally melting. After so many long years. Finally.

~.~.~.~.~

"Who is that?" Captain Ginrei Kuchiki stared through narrowed eyes at his grandson. Sojun was staring at his son in shock. Was that his son? Smiling? And _dancing_?

"My sister." Jushiro looked at the inviting cups of sake. Thank god Kyoraku wasn't here yet otherwise there would be more than just a high chance of him being drunk already.

"Sister?" Sojun turned to the other captain.

"Yeah, never thought she'd actually dress up though." Jushiro sighed, still battling internally whether or not to reach for that sake cup.

"Okay, brother, at least half of this room is going to be dead by tomorrow." Grimmjow had nothing limiting from reaching for that sake cup. Jushiro stared at the cup longingly.

"Why?" Sojun felt interested. He had never actually seen the family of Captain Jushiro Ukitake of Squad 13.

"Because at least half of these guys are ogling their sister." Kaien pointed his thumb to the two brothers. He'd decided to give up on trying to convince them not to worry. Their sister complex was at its peak.

Both brothers groaned.

"What is her relation to my grandson?" Ginrei asked shortly, having no real patience for anyone beside his own family. But even they weren't granted with a great deal amount of patience most of the time.

"You don't know?" Jushiro looked at his fellow captain incredulously. Captain Kuchiki hadn't heard of it yet? Exactly what kind of grandfather was he? A crap one Byakuya would have said if he had been there and been able to read Jushiro's thoughts.

Ginrei's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What do you mean?" Sojun decided to save Captain Ukitake from his father's wrath. Grimmjow just dejectedly drank his sake.

"They're permanent partners. They finished first in the partnership examination this morning." Jushiro turned his head from one Kuchiki to the next.

"He didn't tell us..." Sojun trailed off, feeling incredibly sad that his son hadn't told them about this.

"Hmpf." Ginrei watched the two of them twirl around through narrowed eyes.

The wide smile that suddenly spread across Byakuya's face caught both of them off-guard though. Had Byakuya Kuchiki just genuinly _smiled_?

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya smiled as Ari grinned up at him. They had practiced this dance before so the steps were simply routine. All they were doing was following the same steps that they had had on that very first session. Again the music pulled them in like a siren's call. Everyone around them vanished and it was just them.

The music floated around them, giving their feet the necessary rythm. They didn't hear it though. Suddenly they were too close. Far too close. The heat between their bodies crackled like fireworks. Their breathing hitched up several notches.

A tingling feeling began to form in Ari's stomach and it spread like wildfire. Her senses were on high-alert and she felt goose-bumps spread over her skin. Her heartbeat was increasing exponentially. The heat from her stomach was making her feel all hot and flustered. Slowly she lifted her head and stared up into his eyes. And somewhere in the back of mind she knew that whatever may happen next, she would be unable to stop it.

Byakuya felt an uncomfortable feeling in his groin and he nearly groaned. What the hell was wrong with him. He had danced with her hundreds of times before. So why was now any different than before? Why did he feel as if this moment was not just magical. There was so much more to it. So much more.

He felt hot and flustered and he wanted to do nothing better than swirl her outside onto the terrace where it was cool and cold. Maybe he'd be able to gather his senses and stop before he did something he regretted.

That was when he made the mistake. He looked down into her eyes. And within those churning depths he saw his feelings being reflected back to him. Unable to stop himself he began to instinctively lean down.

And the lights went out.


	16. The Ball Part 2

_ A/N: Thank you so much to **Sakura-Glow** for their review on chapter 14, what you said was so kind, it really encourages me to write more! I would also like to thank anyone who put this story or it's author on their lists, the support is greatly appreciated! =)_

_ On to chapter 15, the second part of the ball! Enjoy! =D _**  
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><p><strong>Memories<strong>

**Chapter 15 - The Ball Part 2**

As the candles went out with a sudden flash, Byakuya's lips came down on Ari's gently at first. As their lips pressed together they took in one another's tastes. She was sweet and wonderful. He was spicy and amazing. It was tentative and careful, unsure of what was going on.

He lifted his head up and stared down at her through the dark and she stared up at him. Their lips crashed back together, more passionately this time. It was more explorative, they wanted to know the other's terrain better. His hand cupped the back of her head and pulled her closer again. She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer with equal fervour. Again and again their lips touched, growing more and more intense each time.

One of their kisses deepened and their tongues flicked out meeting one another, intertwining. This sudden intimacy brought them back to reality roughly and they broke away from one another, breathing heavily. And just in time. The candles flickered back on and the sudden brightness hurt their eyes. Shielding their eyes they looked around each other, refusing to meet the other's eye. Everyone looked slightly dazed and disorientated.

Their eyes met and both blushed right red. And promptly took off in opposite directions. Byakuya nearly tripped over his feet several times. He felt flushed and embarrassed beyond reason. What had just happened? This had never happened before. He had never felt like this in the prescence of another person, let alone another co-student of his! And she was his partner for cripes sake! How were they supposed to continue on now? As if nothing had happened maybe? Yeah right, he shook his head in disbelief. As if that was going to happen.

Finally reaching his destination he took a glass of the cooling liquid standing on the refreshment table. It was so clear, so unlike his own jumbled thoughts. He felt confusion overtake him again. Maybe he should blame it on something that he had eaten or so. But neither of them had eaten or drunken anything before they had begun dancing. He groaned. Just what was he to do now?

"Byakuya!" Byakuya jumped in shock as the voice of his cousin met his ears. As Tsukiko looked up into his eyes she noticed the fleeting panic that passed through his eyes as he spun around. If she wasn't mistaken then he was quite on edge.

"What is it?" Byakuya asked her, a superficial calm falling over him once more.

"Grandfather wishes to see and talk to you." Tsukiko blinked up at him curiously. "Say did something happen? You seem quite agitated."

Byakuya broke his groan off mid-way after hearing her second comment. "No no I'm fine! Really fine actually!" And he practically ran off towards his grandfather before Tsukiko could make another, and probably much more insightful, comment on his current mental state.

"I wonder what happened to him..." Tsukiko murmered as she turned back around to see Ari standing several feet away, drinking the water as if it was her life saver. She looked rather flushed herself.

"Hey Ari, are you okay?" Tsukiko noted Ari's startled jump at having her name called with surprise. What exactly was with those two today? They weren't acting normal, that much was for sure.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine Tsukiko, really." Ari muttered before running off into another direction. She did not want to be confronted by anyone, especially by someone from his family. She wanted to sort out her own thoughts beforehand. She did not know what had just happened, but she was under the firm impression that this didn't happen everyday. But why didn't it feel wrong? Why did it feel right? It shouldn't feel right!

"May I ask that you give me the next dance fair lady?" Ari composed her face perfectly as she spun around to face one of her schoolmates holding out his hand.

"Of course." She smiled graciously, curtsied slightly and tilted her head at the man. He held out his arm and she took it. He lead her to the floor and they began dancing while she tried her very hardest not to think about what had happened not ten minutes ago.

~.~.~.~.~

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a partner?" Ginrei barked out as Byakuya reached his grandfather. By now his gait had slowed considerably. Of course he didn't feel like talking to his grandfather at that particular moment in time. Especially not about Ari. All that would happen would be that he would remember what had happened not ten minutes ago. And that made him blush, something that he didn't want to do in front of his grandfather. And anyway, talking to his grandfather always felt like being interrogated.

"Because I wasn't sure whether she would be a permanent partner or not." Byakuya said smoothly, fully aware that this wasn't true. Some part of him had known that they would remain partners after their pig-headedness had prevented both of them from quitting on that very first day.

"Hmpf. You could still have told me that she was a probable partner. I would have had her checked." His grandfather stared him straight in the eye. Byakuya's mask of indifference didn't waver. He had spent the past decades learning exactly how to school his features so that he didn't give away any emotion when confronted with his grandfather. It was an extremely useful skill. It kept most people away from him. At least most of the annoying people.

"There was no need for that grandfather. She is the adopted sister of Captain Ukitake who is an honourable man. I do not see how we would have to have her background checked." Byakuya said respectfully.

"Her reputation speaks of something different Byakuya." His grandfather's eyes appeared to try and look into his very soul.

"Her reputation is something that she built up to defend herself against the idiots out there." Byakuya said a tad roughly. He was annoyed that his grandfather was trying so hard to find an error in her being. "Much like we build these walls of coldness around us to keep them away."

Ginrei raised his eyebrows at his grandson's outburst. Byakuya had never defended anyone this much in front of him before. Even his father hadn't been as well defended by him.

"So she is your partner now?" Ginrei kept his surprise and annoyance out of his voice. Instead his voice came out clipped.

"Yes grandfather she is." Byakuya nodded. He knew out of experience that his grandfather was annoyed. But there was no way that he was giving up his friendship with Ari. Although he might have ruined that himself.

"Then bring her along to the next family banquet." Ginrei said before he stalked off. He would make sure that that girl broke off this ridiculous partnership. They were part of two seperate worlds. His grandson would become a captain one day, probably even take over his current position. So there was no need to try and have a partner. They would only pull his grandson down.

Byakuya stared at his grandfather's retreating back, barely managing to keep his mouth from flopping open. That his grandfather would resort to such strong measures to try and scare Ari off really was a wonder. Maybe her reputation did say a lot more about her than he had thought. Or maybe he had already spoken to Captain Ukitake. Most probable were both options though.

He shook his head back and forth as if trying to get rid of an irritating fly and made his way back to the refreshment table. He should probably just tell her of his grandfather's summons. But first he needed to drink something. His throat felt as parched as a bone-dry desert.

Taking a glass of the refreshing water that was being offered, he swallowed it all in one gulp. And yes it was water, he had checked that before. He and Ari had overheard some of the other students talking about spiking the drinks. He did not need another headache in the morning on top of the one he already had. That wouldn't be good for him at all. Especially considering that he still had to tell Ari about his grandfathers offer.

He took another glass of water and noticed Ichiro standing not to far away. Ichiro noticed him too and walked over to him.

"So what do you think?" Ichiro asked nodding towards the grand hall in front of them.

"Think of what? Of the way that the people are preening themselves in front of others or of how well your family managed to get the whole place decorated?" Byakuya grinned at his friend.

Ichiro rolled his eyes. "Neither of course. I mean, what do you think of the whole event in general?"

Byakuya sighed. Why did people always want to know that? "Not much I guess. I hate dancing, so I don't see much sense in events such as this."

"You hate dancing?" Ichiro turned to him incredulously. "How can you hate dancing? You and Aurora were brilliant before. You had the attention of the whole ballroom." Byakuya looked at him in surprise and Ichiro suppressed a groan. "Don't tell me. You didn't even notice that, did you?"

Byakuya shook his head. Ichiro resisted the temptation to smack his palm to his forehead. For a person as smart as Byakuya, his friend could be surprisingly dense when it came to certain areas. One of them being how other people percieved him and his actions at times such as these.

"Yo." Both men turned around to see Grimmjow coming to join them with his own glass of juice or whatever it was in his hand.

Byakuya inclined his head while Ichiro gave a welcome 'yo' back. He and Grimmjow had known each other for quite some time now. They often went out drinking together. One of the reasons being that both could hold their liquor well.

All three men settled into a comfortable silence and turned back to the ballroom to see what was going on on the dancefloor. Byakuya and Grimmjow both noticed Jushiro and Ginrei having what appeared to be a relatively serious discussion not too far away. Both of them grimaced. It was probably about Ari since she was now Byakuya's official partner. At least in Ginrei's perspective.

Suddenly they heard a ruckus coming from the dancefloor and all three turned their heads simultaneously towards the noise. What they saw made them groan. Ayane was making her way towards them and pushing quite a few people out of her way to make that happen.

"Do you think we can still escape?" Grimmjow muttered darkly.

"Probably not. Knowing her at least." Ichiro looked dejected. Byakuya knew that his friend still had feelings for her despite trying to overcome them. A broken heart and unrequited love combined sure hurt a lot.

"Shit." He swore lowly. He was not in the mood to put up with Ayane right now. He had been scanning the dancefloor for the past few minutes now and hadn't seen a sign of Ari as of yet. And he wanted to find her quick and try and talk to her.

"Kuchiki-sama!" Ayane squealed and everyone turned to look at Byakuya and his two companions.

"So much for even attempting to escape." Grimmjow looked annoyed.

"I've been looking all over for you!" She threw herself at Byakuya and he side-stepped her neatly. She managed to just about catch herself and not land in a disgraceful heap.

"I'm sure you have." Grimmjow muttered. Ichiro snorted at that comment. Byakuya quirked an eyebrow at him.

That was when he saw it. Ari. She was on the dancefloor with another man. That was only to be expected of course. With her attire she was sure to attract the attention of several of his other comrades. But right now Byakuya was seeing red. The hand of the man with whom she was dancing was gliding lower and lower down her back to her backside.

"Excuse me." He said in a clipped voice and took off. Ichiro, Ayane and Grimmjow looked at him curiously and when they saw where he was headed Grimmjow nearly took off after him. Thankfully Kaien had already seen what had happened, he had been keeping an eye on Ari the whole evening, wanting neither her two brothers nor Byakuya to end up beating someone up. And thus he was there to put a strong and firm hand on Grimmjow's shoulder and successfully managed to prevent Grimmjow from going after Byakuya.

"Excuse me." Byakuya said once more to the man with whom Ari was currently dancing. "I believe that I would like to dance with my partner now." And without awaiting the response of the other man he cut in and twirled her off into another direction.

"I do believe that you just saved his life." Ari said drily as she smirked up at Byakuya.

"If his hand had gone any lower I think that not only your two brothers would have been convicted of murder." He said, his icy glare still focused on the man as he scurried off. Slightly further away Kaien relaxed his iron grip on Grimmjow's shoulder and Jushiro let out a relieved breath. Now he wouldn't have to fear shattering his glass from his tense grip on it.

Suddenly the two of them seemed to remember what had happened prior to their current dance and blushed crimson.

"Yeah, about that..." Byakuya attempted to clear his throat.

"Let's blame it on some drink we had beforehand." Ari muttered as her face went an even deeper shade of red.

"Although we didn't have any?" Byakuya couldn't help but be amused despite their current situation. She probably knew that he had been thinking along the same lines.

"Yes. Although we didn't have any." She snapped, finally looking up to look him into the eye. She was apparently and quite obviously flustered about what had happened.

"Okay." Byakuya said softly. He knew his face was still burning brightly. He just prayed that no one would be able to detect their embarrassment.

She nodded. Her facial features soften and she managed to form a smile. "Truce?"

He also nodded. "Truce." He agreed.

"Then let's enjoy the rest of today." She grinned at him and he relaxed. He knew that neither of them would forget about it but he also knew that neither she nor he were willing to work out why it had happened.

He smirked. "True. We still have to show Tsukiko that those dancing lessons didn't go to waste."

She laughed as he spun her around again and smiled to himself as her melodic laughter met his ears. Everything felt right again.

~.~.~.~.~

"I wonder what they're talking about." Tsukiko curiously peered at the pair that was currently stealing the spotlight away from everyone else. She had to admit though that the two of them looked absolutely brilliant together. When she had first seen Aurora appear that night she and the others had been stunned into silence. Never had anyone probably imagined that the small package of energy could look so beautiful.

Or that she could be even vaguely agreeable. Right at that moment she was laughing. Laughing for crying out loud! Aurora Ukitake did not laugh. She frowned, gave you a lecture and maybe even gave you a slight hit to the side if she was particularily annoyed with you. But other than that she rarely showed any emotion. Byakuya too for that matter. And right now he was grinning while talking to her. Those two somehow managed to break through the others walls. Maybe because they were so similar yet different. Tsukiko shook her head. Those two made no sense at all.

"I don't know." Aika was looking at the two with a curious expression herself. "But we know what everyone will be talking about tomorrow." She grinned deviously. Whether those two would like it or not, they would be the subject of all gossip for the next couple of days if not weeks at least. Ari had made a startling impression on most people. That reminded her of something.

"Wait a minute. Didn't the usherer say _Lady_ Aurora or something like that?" Aika turned to Tsukiko who furrowed her brow.

"Now that you mention it..." Tsukiko looked at Ari as if she was trying to dissect her.

"Her full name is Lady Aurora Yasuko Ukitake I believe." Hinode was also looking at her friend curiously. "I've never heard her being referred to by that name though before."

"That's because we don't like to be referred to by that name." Grimmjow said swiftly as he and Ichiro collapsed on a couch close by.

"What happened to you?" Aika asked her brother.

"We ran from Ayane." Ichiro got out.

"She was about to throw a fit." Grimmjow said as if trying to apologise for their lack of manners by running away from a lady.

"Oh okay." Tsukiko said with a smirk beginning to grow on her lips. She understood now. Ayane had probably been about to try and capture Byakuya's attention. He had probably spied Ari at that point though and made a tactful exit. Those two hadn't been as lucky. By the looks of it they had simply legged it.

"What did you say?" Hinode queried, her eyes wide. "You mean that's her full name?"

Grimmjow looked up. "Yeah, our proper names are even longer though. We just gave the Ukitake's a shortened version. Jushiro knows our full names but he's the only one in the family that does." The others looked at him dumbstruck.

"You mean that you guys are nobles?" Tsukiko blurted out.

"Even before you became a part of the Ukitake household?" Ichiro fired the question straight after Tsukiko's.

"Yeah we are nobles. Born and bred. We just hate that part of our past. Brings a lot of painful memories." Grimmjow's expression grew shut off. He didn't know why he was telling them. He guessed that he just felt as if they deserved the truth. "And that's all there is to it. Nothing more." With that he took a glass of something, he didn't care what it was, from one of the many waiter's scuffling around and began to drink it. The others remained silent. They all had the feeling that they had been lucky just hearing what they had from him. It didn't seem as if this was something that he told others often.

Tsukiko stared once more at the twirling couple on the floor. So she was actually a noble? Had Byakuya known this or not? And if he had, what did he think of it? So many questions and yet so little answers. What she really wanted to know however was why Aurora and Grimmjow hated their past so much. And why they never said anything about being nobles. She was pretty sure that their group weren't the only ones that were surprised by the announcement of her 'full' name. Although according to Grimmjow it still wasn't the full name.

That woman was just one mystery after the next.

~.~.~.~.~

"Your sister's looking quite stunning Jushiro." Jushiro turned around to see his long-time best friend Shunsui Kyoraku come towards him.

"I'm worried." Jushiro turned back to see his sister laugh at something that Byakuya was saying.

"Why's that?" Shunsui looked at his friend curiously.

"I've never seen her like this. She actually looks happy."

"What's so wrong with that?" Shunsui took a sake bottle from one of the waiters and gave a cup to Jushiro, taking the second for himself.

"Captain Kuchiki does not view her to be a fit enough partner for his grandson. He wants to scare her off somehow." Worry furrowed his brow as he took a small sip of the sake.

Shunsui snorted. "Well good luck with that. As far as I know, nothing can scare your sister. She's one of the toughest girls I've had the pleasure of meeting." And also one of the only ones who'd dare knock out a captain when he's too drunk, he added to himself, wincing mentally at that memory.

"Nobility scares the heck out of her. From what I've heard of their past from her and Grimmjow I can safely say that she'll do just about anything to avoid it. And Captain Kuchiki thinks that pulling her into that world would break her." Jushiro took another tentative sip, still trying to figure out how strong the sake was. His friend was known for drinking quite extensively and extravagantly.

"Well knowing her I wouldn't worry." Shunsui turned serious as Jushiro turned towards him with a raised brow. "I might not know as much as you do about their past. Heck, I probably know hardly nothing at all. But I do know that she won't let herself be intimidated, much less broken by something or somebody else. Captain Kuchiki wants to start a battle of wits. It's going to be one that he'll lose."

"How can you be so sure?" Jushiro asked, the doubt in his voice evident. He was seriously worried about his sister, he didn't want to see her get hurt.

"Because she already has the grandson on her side." Shunsui said with a twinkle in his eyes, his playful personality returning. "And with an ace like that, Captain Kuchiki can't risk going too far now, can he? Because one thing is for certain, even now. When push comes to shove, that boy, whether he realises it now or not, will side with her. The bond that those two already have is way too deep. Anyone who's not half-blind can see it quite clearly." He laughed at his friend's doubtful face. "Who knows, maybe they'll become more than just friends..." He trailed off and laughed again at his friend's murderous expression.

"Shunsui..." Jushiro began, not even wanting his friend to follow down that trail of thought.

And so the rest of the night continued relatively peacefully, the only other major occuring being that Ayane somehow managed to get the punch on her 'super expensive' dress. Of course, Tsukiko, Aika and Hinode who were all quite close by declared it a mere coincidence that Ayane managed to trip perfectly enough to land face-first in the punch-bowl. And who couldn't help but believe three girls who were known as 'perfect' ladies within society? Girls who wouldn't even hurt a fly?


	17. Stars

_ A/N: Hiya everyone and thanks to all those who put this st__ory on their alerts or favourites list, the support is really appreciated. =) Sorry that I took so long to update this, exams have been keeping me pretty busy but now that they are over and the holidays have started, my update schedule for all of my stories should become more regular. =D_

_ Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings in Bleach, it all belongs to Tite Kubo! ;D_**  
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_ Without further ado on to Chapter 16, which is kinda like a filler chapter! =)  
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_ Please leave a review! =P =D  
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**Chapter 16 - Stars**

Weeks went by and life around the academy and its students continued to be fairly peaceful. Most people still hadn't accepted that Byakuya and Ari actually got along to a certain degree so they simply decided to ignore it and presume that the two didn't. And if you ever saw them interact you would be feeling certain that the two didn't get along. After all, who fought as much as they did and still remained friends or even companions?

Byakuya and Ari simply shook their heads and went on with their day-to-day business. It didn't really matter to the two of them what everyone else thought. They were the ones in this partnership after all, not the others.

What had Byakuya worried though was the fact that his grandfather had invited Ari to join them for one of the dinners that they had coming up. He knew for a fact that this might turn out to be quite troublesome. If his grandfather had done even the slightest of reconnaisance on Ari then he would know of her deep hatred of nobility.

And his grandfather was probably intending to break her spirit or make her realise that she didn't fit into the world that he came from. Or, or, or... That was all that was swirring around in his head lately. Ari had told him several times that he should not worry so much. After all she had managed to spend several hours at a ball, a dinner couldn't be that much worse.

Byakuya on the other hand wasn't so sure. Yeah, she had managed to excel at the ball and its scene but a dinner would be much more intimate. You wouldn't be able to take a break from the craziness and escape into crowds to take a breather. No, you would be under constant surveillance, your every move would be watched.

And he knew from first-hand experience just how horrid his grandfather could be in such interrogations. He remembered the time that Yua had brought her first 'boy' friend home. The poor guy had practically fled the mansion with his tail between his legs.

And for some reason he didn't want Ari to be chased away like that other man was. He wanted her to stay, to remain his partner and not be frightened away by his standing like everyone else was.

With a groan Byakuya turned around in his bed, deciding that maybe he wouldn't be able to sleep after all. He had managed to avoid a family conference today since his grandfather had proclaimed that he wasn't needed there today and he had also successfully managed to avoid both of his siblings the whole day. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Well, he guessed that miracles weren't true after all because he had spent the past hour rolling around in his bed with sleep continuously evading him. And all his blasted thoughts were doing was to revolve about the same problem that he had been mentally fighting with the past three weeks, ever since his grandfather had made that preposterous announcement at the ball.

Deciding that he wasn't going to have any luck with sleep after all he opened the door that led to the gardens silently, hoping that he at least wouldn't make any sound and be able to get away from the stifling atmosphere that was his home. Quickly taking a robe that would cover him against the rather fresh air, he closed his door again, thanking the unseen gods that it hadn't creaked once, a tendancy that it usually had.

Creeping through the garden he grimaced when he realised that he was acting like a criminal in his own home. Brushing the thought aside he continued along through the bushes and gracefully leapt onto the roof of the wall surrounding the estate on which he was currently staying. Looking around the walls to check for any guards he happily concluded that none were there and went on to jump down onto the street.

Why exactly he was walking the streets in the middle of the night when he should have been laying in his bed was beyond him. If anyone were to ever ask him he would simply reply that he himself didn't know what had possessed him to do so.

Walking through the streets he found a certain sense of peace flood over him as he looked up at the sky at the gleaming moon. The night was truly beautiful. It was more quiet and serene here than it ever would be at his home.

Not really caring where he was going he continued to wander through the streets without any aim. Looking around himself he found himself in an area that he didn't recognise. And with a dreadful pang he realised that he was lost.

Giving up on the notion of recieving any sleep that night he turned around and tried to find his was back through the labyrinth that was this part of the Seretei. After what he thought was approximately another hour he decided that he was going to give up the notion of finding his way home as well.

"Byakuya?" He turned around swiftly as he heard his name being called. His first name no less.

"Ari?" He called back, sure that he had just recognised the distinct voice that belonged to his partner.

"What're you doing here?" She stepped out from the shadows of the building and watched him flounder for an answer.

"I couldn't sleep so I went out for a walk." He finally settled with.

"And you got lost, didn't you?" She smiled as he huffed at the preposterous notion of getting lost. She gave him another amused smile and tilt of the head.

"Fine. Yeah, I got lost." He muttered, the air seeping out of him.

She sighed heavily herself. "Come on in then. My brother's are out getting drunk anyway and I'm pretty sure you don't want to go back yet, do you?" Somehow she had sensed that he had snuck out. How she knew was beyond his comprehension but he decided to take her up on her offer. It was better than wandering through the streets of the Seretei completely lost.

Beckoning to him she went down a small alleyway and he followed. A sudden thought dawned on him.

"Why are you out at this time anyway?" He asked, perplexed as to why she would be wandering the streets.

She gave him a rueful smile. "I've got the same problem as you. Couldn't sleep. And I always go out for a walk whenever that happens."

He looked at her in surprise. "You can't sleep?"

She shook her head and laughed briefly at his confused face. "Nah, never could sleep well. I've always had sleeping problems."

"Why do you go out though?" He queried, genuinly interested in her answer.

"I don't know." She shrugged helplessly. "But the Seretei at night is always so peaceful, it reminds me of the place I came from before here." A small smile graced her lips. "The serenity of it always puts me at peace and when I get back home I find that it's easier to fall asleep." Suddenly she chuckled, the rich sound filling the quiet of the night. "And the walks always make me tired so it's definitely helpful."

Her smile was infectious, he couldn't help but smile back. They walked for several minutes in peaceful silence.

"What I wonder though," he turned to peer at her. "Is why you're outside at this time of night. Doesn't your estate have more than enough space to walk around?" She turned to look at him questioningly as she pushed the backdoors of the thirteenth squad barracks open.

"Well..." he began, not really sure where exactly he should begin.

She turned to him expectantly as he followed her through the opened doors, contemplating as to what he should say.

"I guess my house just feels kind of restricted right now. Stuffy." He said as he thought over what he had just said. It was true. It did feel as if his home was binding him tightly, stopping him from living, even breathing properly. He always felt as if he was on show back home, he didn't feel like he could be himself.

"Well then I think I have the right cure for it." She said with a bright grin, ignoring the fact that they were both in their nightclothes and also deciding to ignore the fact that it was the middle of the night and they were sneaking around like a bunch of criminals.

"What do you mean?" Suspicion leaked into his voice and she laughed as she saw his skeptical features. Considering the kind of person she was, she thought it was probably quite right that he was suspecting something was off. She could be nice if she tried though. She was pretty sure of that.

"Come on, I'll show you." She smiled as the skeptism that remained on his features.

"Show me?" He raised an eyebrow at her in the way that only he could. Arrogant yet amused at the same time. She wondered from whom he had learned this. Not from his grandfather, that was for certain.

"Yeah, you have to wait here though." She grinned at him as they reached the living room of the appartment she shared with her two brothers. "Make yourself at home." And with that she was gone, probably to the kitchen or someplace else.

Byakuya sighed as he let himself down on the cushions that were set up in the room. Sinking into them he realised with surprise that they were wonderfully comfortable and soft, something that he hadn't expected.

There was so much wrong with this situation right now that he could probably make a very long list of all these things. One, they were both in their night clothes, which brought him to point two, it was in the middle of the night. Point three, they were all alone, neither of her brothers present. Point four, they would probably be alone for a fair amount of time yet. Which brought him to point five, he should absolutely not being doing this. And a lot more things. Yet, no matter how often he looked at it and logically concluded that this was wrong, he felt that it was exactly the opposite. He felt at peace and content, finally certain that he would be able to fall asleep. Her prescence was surprisingly soothing, and that alone should have warned him that he had probably left a fair amount of his usual good sense behind him at the estate.

But, drat it all he couldn't care less.

And at that point, he, Lord Byakuya Kuchiki, should have known that something was most definitely wrong with him.

~.~.~.~.~

Humming happily Ari came out of the kitchen with two steaming hot cups of tea. Beckoning to the now happily comfortable Byakuya, she pushed open a small side door and made her way up a narrow flight of stairs. Her brothers rarely used this stairway, yet she was a frequent traveller of it.

"Where are we going?" Byakuya asked from further down, having decided to get out of his comfortable position and follow her.

"You'll see." She called softly over her shoulder, not wanting to awaken or alert anyone else to their prescence.

"Hmpf." Was all she got as a response and she smirked slightly. She knew that Byakuya hated not being answered to directly and lately she'd begun to make a habit of doing exactly that, simply because she knew that it would irritate the hell out of him.

"Here we go." She said more to herself than anyone else as she gingerly opened the hatch to the roof. Stepping out onto it she sucked in a deep breath and walked over a bit further before settling down on the surprisingly warm tiles.

Settling himself down next to her, Byakuya took in the landscape around him. It was quiet and peaceful up here, all he could hear were the soft sounds of the crickets from the garden below. Handing him the hot cup of tea Ari took a sip of hers and smiled as she lay back on the roof, staring up at the sky.

Mirroring her actions Byakuya looked at the sky himself, shocked at the beauty and clarity of the stars.

"Whenever I was small my mother would take me out onto the roof when I couldn't sleep and tell me all these stories of the stars and the legends associated to them. Ever since then, whenever I can't sleep at all and my walks don't help I come up here." She turned to smile at him. "It's humbling to know that something as bright and beautiful as the stars are really up there. It helps me put my life back in perspective and straighten things out." She gazed back up to look at the stars. "They really are beautiful, don't you think?"

Byakuya nodded mutely, feeling touched that she had thought of taking him somewhere as important to her as this. Gazing up at the stars and tracing the patterns, lines and shapes of the constellations that he knew he began to understand what she meant. Seeing something the beautiful and distant so clear made him realise that his existence was quite small.

"Did you know that stars are stuck in the same place their whole lives and never move?" She asked, breaking the quiet with a soft voice. He turned to her, curiousity playing across his face.

She seemed to sense that he was interested in what she had to say for she didn't even turn her head in his direction once.

"They remain stuck in that very position their whole lives and never move, never waver. They have to stay where they are and because of that they become pointers for us whenever we're lost at night and don't know where to go. They serve a purpose in some ways, being stuck as they are and I've questioned myself, don't they ever want to move away from that same position?" The small smile that had been playing on her lips reached her eyes. She turned her head to face him. "So just like those stars are pointers for us down here while they are stuck in the same positions their whole lives, I believe that even though we may sometimes be stuck in certain positions in our lives, we still remain pointers to other people around us."

"Without really knowing it, we guide them. Guide them down their path of life, inspire them to find their own way to their own home. And do you know why we're really lucky?" She didn't wait for his answer, she just continued to gaze into his eyes. "Because unlike the stars we can move. We can move away from our positions at some point in life, if we just work up the courage and energy to do so. But until we can move, I think we should continue to be a pointer for the other people around them. Because to other people, we may be their north star guiding them, and we wouldn't want too many people to get lost now, would we?"

Her eyes were shining, something lurking deep within their depths that made Byakuya feel breathless and honoured at the same time to be able to see it.

"Thank you." He whispered and against his better judgement reached out with his hand to hold hers. Giving it a small squeeze he turned his head back around to look up at the sky. He missed her surprised expression, followed by a heart-warming smile. She turned to look back up at the night sky herself, the expression and simple words of gratitude reaching her in a way that she hadn't thought possible.

They continued to watch the sky for some time yet, eventually both falling asleep.

They never let go of one another's hand.


	18. The Dinner

_ A/N: Thank you so much to **Sakura-Glow** (I love stars too and I had hoped to capture the essence of them in the chapter, it makes me happy to think that I managed to achieve that), **SafyrRaven**, **Furionknight**, **Regin** and **Ethyrin Kairos** for their reviews on chapter 16! :) _

_ I truly apologise for not updating this story for over a year. There are no real excuses apart from the fact that time just flew by that much quicker than expected. I hope that you still enjoy the story though and rest assured that it will continue, I have finally managed to sit down and plan out the rest of the story so now I know exactly where I'm going whereas before I only roughly knew where I was going... :P_

_ RxExR!_

* * *

><p><strong>Memories<strong>

**Chapter 17 - The Dinner**

"What are you two doing here?" A hushed voice startled Renji and Rukia from behind. Spinning around, they were surprised to see Rangiku staring at them with obvious interest. She beckoned for them to follow and so they did.

"So?" She asked, once they were a safe distance away where they were sure that Byakuya couldn't hear them.

"We wanted to ask Captain Kuchiki something, but its his day off and he seems pretty lost in thought so we weren't sure how to proceed." Renji said quickly, knowing that Rukia would probably prefer to keep quiet about her brother anyway.

"He always comes here." Rangiku breathed softly, and they looked at her in surprise. Seeing their confused faces she smiled briefly. "Captain Hitsugaya noticed some time back that Captain Kuchiki always seemed to take the same day off. No one ever questioned it, no one ever said anything about it. Those that have been here longer, somehow seem to know the reason for it, yet they never talk about it. It infuriates my Captain to a certain extent that he doesn't know something. Although I guess that Captain Kurotsuchi is even more livid that he doesn't really know anything about it. Although he was around at the time."

The image of an annoyed Kurotsuchi brought forth a smile to the other two's faces.

~.~.~.~.~

"I wonder..." Tsukiko stared out of the window to see a couple of bluebirds flying past as Byakuya strode purposefully across the lawn. It was roughly six in the morning and she had seen Byakuya come out of the bushes, where he had been before she did not know, but he looked more awake than she had ever seen him at this hour. Normally her cousin had extreme troubles waking and getting up, yet currently he seemed to be completely fine.

"Wonder about what?" A tired yawn came from Aika, who had snuck into her room last night because her own guest room had been to large for her. Ichiro and Aika were currently both staying with the Kuchiki's since their parents were both away. Theoretically they could have stayed at their own house and estate but their parents had quite bluntly stated that they didn't really trust them not to burn the house down or wreak it, like their older brother had a couple of years back in a similar situation.

The older brother was, of course, disowned by now due to that incident back then, and so Ichiro had become the new heir, whether to his pleasure or displeasure, no one really knew. Aika did seem glad though that her brother had been exiled. It hadn't seemed that she held any particular fondness for him, on the contrary, she seemed to dislike him quite a lot.

"Where my cousin was." Tsukiko stated, letting out a rather unfeminine-like yawn. It was after all still pretty early in the morning and she never had been a morning person. None of the Kuchiki's truly were. Apart from Lady Kuchiki maybe, since she was always already up by the time that the rest of them managed to scratch themselves out of bed.

"Byakuya?" Aika seemed to come more alive at the mention of her brother's best friend. "What do you mean?"

"For one why he is going through the garden like a criminal at this time of the day." Curiousity was the only thing that was keeping Tsukiko from falling back down into the welcoming covers of her bed.

"Maybe he went somewhere." Aika let sleep overcome her as she drifted back off into the land of dreams for a couple more hours. Tsukiko looked at the girl in envy. Even if she were to try and go back to bed, her nagging curiousity would keep her awake. Maybe she should just go out and ask Byakuya where he'd been.

And nobody was supposed to try and wake them for several more hours anyway. Today was the day of the monthly banquet that their grandfather held, normally only with his close family members, but today Aurora Ukitake would be joining them, as well as Aika and Ichiro since they were staying with them.

Yes, today was definitely going to be an interesting day.

~.~.~.~.~

The time of the dinner had finally arrived. Byakuya felt slightly guilty since he had actively managed to avoid his cousin since this morning, but really, could you blame him? After all, when Tsukiko had knocked at his door at eight in the morning and had practically demanded to know where he had been that night, he couldn't do anything but close the door in her face with grace and hope she wouldn't return.

He had known deep in his heart that she would though. She had obviously been more than just slightly shocked at his reaction to her demand, one that she found perfectly reasonable, while he just found it absolutely wrong. It wasn't any of her business where he had been that night. And he firmly believed that he would rather take his life than mention where he had been. It would wound his pride beyond belief, and, of course, she was a very talkative person. Once Tsukiko knew something, Aika would know it, which meant that Ichiro would know it within the hour and following that probably the whole of Soul Society.

And he had the bloody dinner with his family tonight that Ari was supposed to attend with him. Neither of them could use false gossip and rumours floating around them with a man like his grandfather sitting opposite them. It would only end in the biggest fiasco of the century. And he himself wasn't really a fan of drama and the like.

Plus his grandfather would use anything he could to try and break his and Ari's partnership, and that was one of the few things in this life he was not willing to give up. Ever.

He carefully looked around himself, looking as stoic as ever before setting off at a brisk pace, hoping to find some peace and quiet in the garden. He sorely needed a couple of minutes of peace before the headache that would be this dinner started.

~.~.~.~.~

Grimmjow growled lowly as he paced around the living room. Jushiro was sitting calmly and comfortably on the sofa while enjoying a cup of tea. Grimmjow knew though that despite his calm outer facade, his brother was deeply annoyed at the current situation. If you'd lived with Jushiro long enough, you were able to recognise the slight twitch of his mouth and the well-masked annoyance in his eyes that gave him away.

Oh, and the fact that he was lifting the already empty cup to his mouth for the third time in the last minute. Grimmjow threw an open scowl at the door that their sister was currently behind before beginning to pace around the room again, no doubt driving his poor brother up the walls.

He just didn't understand it. After all those years spent hiding away and actively avoiding the politer and higher society of this place, she had decided to have dinner with one of the four great families of the place. Not because a Captain of the twelve divisions had practically demanded it. No, it was because her partner had asked her to please come. Why he had no idea - okay, he did have an idea. Genrei Kuchiki wasn't the nicest man on the block and you normally tried to avoid the bastard wherever you could. Even his brother had admitted that the current head of the Kuchiki clan was quite unpleasant to be around most of the time.

But still. That didn't explain why Ari, who despised higher society with a passion, would go and do something like this, something that would place her in direct contact with the said society. It just made no sense to him at all.

His scowl darkened. He knew exactly why they hated higher society. And it all had to do with their older sister. A series of words flew to his mind as he thought of his 'oh-so-lovely' older sister. He swore that she was a spawn from hell. Even though she hadn't always been. Their parents' deaths had taken a lot out of all of them, but that didn't mean that she had the right to act like she had. Especially towards Ari.

He heard the click of the door opening and spun around to try and convince Ari one more time that what she was doing was stupid and that she would only wound up getting incredibly hurt in the process. He stopped when he saw her look though.

She was dressed in a red cocktail dress that finished just above her knees. It was fit her perfectly, accenting her curves in all the right places. Similar to her gown from a couple of weeks back, ruffles flared out at her hips and small gemstones were embedded in the whole dress, creating an intricate pattern that reflected and refracted the light each and every time she moved. She had simple red heels on, not too tall and not too short, just right for her height. And probably ones that she had decided she could move in without falling.

Her hair was done in small waves and curls, falling past her shoulders and down her back, twirling and dancing with her each and every move. Her turquoise eyes stood in stark contrast to the red of the dress, clashing, but not in an uncomfortable manner, rather like complimentary colours clashed. The silver and gold in her hair matched the dress wonderfully though, her movements screaming the elegance that they had been brought up with.

She wore her usual necklace, it was sitting comfortably on her chest and on her right hand there was a small diamond bracelet, one that she had gotten from their mother so many years ago that he could hardly remember the occasion.

In her other hand she held a jacket, to prevent the evening chill from getting to her. As always, she managed to take their breaths away in moments like these.

But it was the look in her eyes that really struck him. That determined, fiery look that was so unique to her. One that spoke of never giving up, one that told him that no matter what he said or did, he would not be able to change her mind. It was the same look that she had carried back then, back when they had all been about to give it all up.

_"It's no use Ari, we won't be able to see her again. You know that _she_ will be watching and making sure that we don't get close to her." The small figure of their old friend Nel stood in front of her, her eyes holding a sadness and hopelessness that he had never seen in there before. They all fell silent, they knew that what Nel said was the truth._

_"Maybe we should just leave it. I mean look at us, we're a complete and utter mess..." His own voice spoke his dismal thoughts, none of them could deny that the incident had changed their lives dramatically._

_"So what?" Their heads snapped up to look at a very calm and collected Ari, and the small Toushiro standing at her side, clutching her hand in his, taking the strength he needed. "Who cares what happened to us. She asked us to get her out of there so we are going to get her out of there. That's it, no more and no less to it."_

_Her eyes carried a determined and fiery look in them. One that could break rocks and steel with just a glance. One under which you quivered because you knew that she was going to do whatever she thought she should do._

He knew there was nothing he could do. All he could do was resign himself to the fact that she was going to the blasted dinner, whether he or Jushiro or anyone else for that matter liked it or not.

Jushiro looked at his resigned figure in surprise. He had expected complaints from him and a rant on how stupid she was to do this and that she shuold just stay at home. When nothing came and Grimmjow sent an exasperated look at their sister, he knew that his brother had seen something that he hadn't. And looking at her determined features he wondered what exactly Grimmjow had seen to make him back down.

He usually wasn't one to back down. Not at all.

~.~.~.~.~

Byakuya tugged at the coat of his suit. His grandfather had decided that for this family meeting he would go with a slightly more western theme, just like they had for the ball that had commemorated their victory a couple of weeks back. He didn't know why exactly the old man had chosen the set-up that he had, but it made the whole affair feel a lot more formal than it usually was. He had probably done it because so many people outside of the family were coming today.

He had decided to go outside and wait near the gates for Ari because the atmosphere inside the house was getting a bit too stifling for his tastes. Not only were Tsukiko's brothers annoying the living daylights out of him with their usual acts, but Tsukiko herself wasn't much better. Although she had given up on forcing him to tell her where he had been that night, she was now trying to pressure him with the glares she was directing at him.

Coupled with the fact that he already greatly disliked these family dinners, it was most definitely adding to the tension that was building up within him.

And then there were Ichiro and Aika who were both going to join them for the dinner today as well. Not all of his own relatives were able to make it this time around, to most people's intense relief, but with three 'foreigners' as one could dub it, joining them, the dinner was nearly bound for failure. Not to forget of course was Tsukiko's lovely 'fiancé' joining them as well. Although, he was going to be part of the family soon so he didn't really make that much of an impact.

Which still didn't really sit all that well with him. He wasn't sure whether it was the mere fact that Tsukiko was getting married in the first place or whether it was the fact of whom she was getting married to. Either way he didn't like it one bit.

"Byakuya!" Ari's voice called him out of his thoughts and he looked up as she stepped towards him. For the second time in the last couple of weeks, Byakuya felt as if the air had been knocked clear out of his lungs. She was absolutely beautiful and he wondered how no one else had ever seen it before.

"Ari." He smiled at her and for once thanked his grandfather internally for all the harsh training he had put him through over the years. Because he was pretty sure that if he hadn't learnt how to control his expression due to that training, he would be floundering like a fish out of water by now.

"So, ready to face the lions?" She asked playfully and he rolled his eyes.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He quipped back and she chuckled. A couple of moments of silence passed between them as he led her inside. "But really Ari, you don't have to do this." He said softly and she looked up at him as she smiled just as gently.

"I know, but I have the feeling that it's something that has to be done." And with that they had reached the door to the dining room and they shared a last smile, although his eyes still retained some of their worry. Then their expressions fell into place, both of them perfectly guarded and impeccable.

Byakuya had gained some insight into her life before joining the Ukitake household, one of them being that she had had an even more intense training in all things noble than he had, something which he had thought impossible before. But it also meant that she was able to pull on that mask of cool indifference and project emotions that were not her own as good as him, if not even better.

They entered the room and found that his grandfather wasn't present yet, something that he was glad for. Instead there were only his annoying cousins, Tsukiko, Aika, Ichiro and his own imidiate family.

"Everyone, this Lady Aurora Ukitake." Ari performed a perfect curtsey and they all returned their greetings as he went around introducing her to each member of his family individually. His cousins sneered at her and she merely raised an eyebrow at the two troublemakers, looking at them completely unimpressed. When he introduced her to his mother and father though, she smiled at them and they returned her smile.

It was at that moment that his younger brother, Kenji, and his grandfather entered the room. They all curtsied or bowed, depending on their gender and moved around to take their seats at the table.

"Grandfather, this is Lady Aurora Ukitake, Aurora, this is my grandfather and head of the family, Ginrei Kuchiki." Byakuya introduced the two of them before his grandfather gave the signal for them to all sit down and they merely stared at each other for a second, her turquoise eyes clashing with his black ones.

"Sit down everyone." His grandfather ordered and they all did. Here, in this house, his grandfather's words were law.

And so the dinner began. In all honesty it was exactly the same as every dinner had ever been in this house. The atmosphere was stuffy, the people all sat stiffly and barely a word was spoken as Ginrei Kuchiki watched the table like a hawk watching its prey. It always seemed as if he was waiting for one of them to slip up, to make a mistake so that he could criticise them.

None of them liked it but all of them endured it.

"So, Lady Aurora, how long have you and my grandson been partners?" Ginrei asked casually just as Ari was carefully dissecting the piece of meat in front of her. Instead of spluttering and stuttering as one normally would when spoken to directly by his grandfather, Ari merely chewed carefully and swallowed.

"Nearly five months now, sir." She replied calmly.

Ginrei nodded in response. Silence reigned over the table once more as he turned back to his food.

"And you are a noble?" He asked after a couple more minutes, his eyes holding a strange gleam within them. Byakuya knew that it was part of his grandfather's plan to make her uncomfortable. He knew that Ari hated nobles and her past, it was no secret after all. So, not only the already quite uncomfortable air around them, but also the probing questions of her past were meant to make her crack. He really wanted to tell his grandfather what he thought of those tactics.

"Yes." She responded with a simple nod of her head. "My brother and I are nobles from a family that lives far outside of the Seretei in the countryside, after the deaths of our family in a fire however we became orphans. The Ukitake family adopted us one hundred years ago."

"I see." His grandfather responded and that was all that he said to her for the remainder of the dinner. He only briefly spoke to Ichiro and Aika on their parent's trip and casually asked Tsukiko and Hisashi about their wedding plans, which he probably knew all about already anyway and with that the hour long dinner ended.

It had gone so much better than Byakuya had expected. His grandfather hadn't been able to make Ari lose her composure and he wasn't able to find a fault in her. Her dress code had been appropriate and what she had worn had been impressive. It made him proud of her.

"I'll see you soon then." Ari said as she was leaving through the gate. Byakuya nodded as he bid her goodbye. Despite her impressive performance, she was still tired. Acting the way she had had taken a toll on her and he could clearly see it in the way that her eyes were tired and her smile not as bright as it usually was.

"Thank you." He said so quietly he wasn't sure that she had heard. But apparently she had as she turned around and pulled him into a hug. He froze for a couple of seconds, completely unaccustomed to the feeling of such close contact. Tentatively he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, cherishing the gesture.

"No problem." She whispered and looked up at him. They smiled and then pulled away from each other reluctantly before she set off back home and he turned around to go back inside.

Sojun smiled up from the window that he had been standing against, watching his son bid goodbye to his partner.

"Is something the matter uncle?" Tsukiko asked, perplexed as to why her uncle would be smiling. He normally kept the cool facade of the Kuchiki's as much as they all did.

"No, it's nothing at all." He said and slipped back into the role of the ignored son of his father. Nobody would need to know that his own son was finally becoming his own person, just as he'd always hoped, especially not the family. They'd just make his life that much more difficult.


	19. A Demonstration of Normality

_ A/N: Thank you so much to **Furionknight** and **HarunaOno** for their reviews on chapter 17! :)_

_ RxExR!_

* * *

><p><strong>Memories<strong>

**Chapter 18 - A Demonstration of Normality**

"Shunsui, does Ichigo remind you of my sister?" Jushiro looked over at his close friend who had come over to visit him for lunch.

Shunsui Kyoraku looked at his friend as he thought about the question. It had been a long time since Jushiro had mentioned anything about his sister at all but considering that today was her death day, it was pretty plausible that he had been thinking about her.

"I guess so." He said after a couple of minutes of thinking on it. "Same boundless energy, same amount of skill to annoy the people around them, same blunt way of speaking. I guess that they are pretty similar in some respects. Why do you ask?"

"Renji and Rukia found a picture of her and Captain Kuchiki in his drawer and they came to me to ask me about it. Renji merely mentioned that from what I told them briefly of her that she sounded a lot like Ichigo."

"I've never actually thought about it that way." Shunsui mumbled, reaching for his sake cup.

"No, me neither." Jushiro agreed, seemingly lost in thought once more. "Renji's comment just got me thinking that that may be one of the reasons why Captain Kuchiki dislikes Ichigo so much." He said after a couple more minutes of peace and quiet.

"It may be so." Shunsui agreed. "But there was nobody really quite like her."

"No, there wasn't and there isn't." Jushiro agreed and they went back to merely enjoying one another's company.

~.~.~.~.~

After the dinner, his grandfather didn't ask him anymore about Ari and didn't talk about her either. It was almost as if she had passed straight out of his field of interest. At least Byakuya hoped that this was the case. He really didn't want to argue with his grandfather about his partner.

Tsukiko had also stopped bugging him so much about Ari, but that was more because of her own wedding preparations that had to be started. Her wedding would be in roughly a year and as it was a marriage between two noble houses, the wedding preparations would be extensive and it would take forever to get everything ready. Tsukiko was more annoyed about it than anything else though, seeing as she had absolutely no desire to marry Hisashi.

Aika and Ichiro had also moved back to their own estate as their parents had returned from their trip so his own estate only held his immediate family once more. It felt good to return to the normal state of affairs. Well, as normal as it could get.

Right now he was heading to school once more. It was early in the morning, as it always was rather unfortunately, and the first lesson of the day was one with Professor Hibiki Kichida and as much as it pained him to admit, he was kind of looking forward to the lesson.

It was one of the few lessons that he actually shared with Ari, seeing as they were in fundamentally different classes, and the teachers believed that despite being partners, the two students should still remain in their previous classes so as to maintain some individuality and not have two people rely on each other too much.

On one hand it was good, on the other though it wasn't. He was finding that he wanted to spend more and more time with her lately and it bugged him that it was so. And then there was the thing with Ayane being in more classes with him than Ichiro, Ari or Hinode (who he had come to appreciate quite a lot and actually befriend to much of his surprise). Ichiro's partner was a menace and it seemed that since the ball she had actually decided to put even more of an effort into getting him which was currently serving to be quite a bother.

Finally reaching the school he looked around the yard and was glad to see that Ichiro was already there, despite looking like he was about to fall asleep against the wall. Neither Ari, Grimmjow or Hinode were there yet and it seemed that Ayane hadn't arrived yet either, which was actually rather good.

"Hey." He said as he decided to actually use the bench instead of stand against the wall like Ichiro. It was too early in the morning to remain standing for that long a time. Jiro had had quite a lot of trouble getting him to awaken this early, although apparently it was getting better. But whether it got better or not, he knew that it was way to early for anyone to be up and about. Really, who had decided to make lessons start at six in the morning, it was a horror, that's what it was.

Ichiro jumped slightly as he woke up from his small nap. "Oh, hey." He yawned broadly. "Professor Kichida is evil."

Byakuya merely nodded in response. It was a well-known fact that the tactical teacher was always scheming. Even his fellow colleagues seemed to be unable to gauge just how much he actually thought up.

"Only he would make his lessons start at this ungodly time. Every other teacher starts at eight or nine." It seemed that Ichiro had finally noticed that the bench was even present as he plopped himself down comfortably next to Byakuya in a manner completely unlike a noble.

"He's a devil in disguise, I've always told anyone who listens as much." Hinode's voice floated over to them, the end of the sentence punctuated by a wide yawn.

"That he most certainly is, although I don't know about the disguise part. He seems pretty obviously evil to me." Ichiro continued. Somehow he and Hinode had also formed some sort of friendship. Their families moved in the same circles and it was only the mere fact that she was Ari's best friend that had stopped him from interacting with her until now. But now that he had decided to actually tolerate Ari (and actually talk to her so therefore he was also starting to warm up to her) he and Hinode had also started talking and found that they had quite a lot in common.

Apparently one of those things was how stubborn their best friends could be. According to Aika the two of them had once had an hour long rant about it to each other or so. Needless to say, he and Ari hadn't been amused.

"The man put my sister and Byakuya together, or at least somehow managed to manipulate the lots into making them come together. He's not just a devil, he's an evil devil genius." Grimmjow had also arrived, looking like he had just been kicked out of bed. He probably had.

"He did?" Byakuya asked, feeling slightly surprised, along with a bit peeved and more than a bit thankful.

"Yeah, I overheard Professors Kato and Kawano talk about it. Professor Kato was quite annoyed at him while Professor Kawano was attempting to placate him. Either he's a genius or recklessly stupid." Grimmjow scowled slightly at the fact that the bench was already full and leaned against the wall.

"Recklessly stupid?" Ari did not appear to be happy to hear that as she appeared behind him.

"Well, back then we were all pretty sure you were going to kill each other." Grimmjow continued, pointedly ignoring his sister's annoyed look.

"Apparently there are still bets running on how long you two will last without killing each other." Ichiro nodded.

"Now I don't know if _that_ is just plain stupid or not." Hinode stated and Grimmjow nodded in agreement.

"They have no trust at all in us, do they?" Ari asked Byakuya who just shook his head in reply.

The bell rang a couple of seconds later to signal the start of the lessons and they all got up and began to make their way inside. Professor Kichida's lessons were always three to four hours long as he went into quite a lot of detail about each of the tactics so people always tried to get the most comfortable seats first. Most of the class dozed off at some point anyway although none had actually managed to sleep through the entire lesson yet. Professor Kichida was simply too animated to actually fall asleep to and he also paid too much attention for anyone to actually fall asleep unnoticed.

That morning they covered an attack on two to four hollows with only three people and how to cope if the hollows were a lot stronger than you and you were unable to call for back-up. As it was nearly the end of the year and they would go on summer break in roughly a month they were beginning to cover some of the more difficult manoeuvres so that they could properly research them over the summer break.

After that they split off, Ari and Ichiro having Organisation and Planning with Professor Aoi Kawano while Byakuya and Hinode had a free period and Grimmjow had Healing with Professor Shiora Fujimoto. After that they had an hour free for lunch where Ari and Hinode went off to some small restaurant that they frequented quite regularly while Byakuya and Ichiro went to their respective homes to have lunch there. Grimmjow went to the cantine with the rest of his friends. And after that lessons continued once more.

It went like this for the next week, each day being just as normal as the one before, much to everyone's relief. They had had enough action and drama in the last two months to last for at least another couple of weeks.

It was the week after that week that the professors decided to introduce a new compulsory class that they all had to attend that things changed a bit once more. Apparently the Gotei 13 had discovered that quite a lot of people that came fresh from the Academy into the Gotei 13 were more than just inexperienced when it came to trips into other worlds such as the World of the Living.

"And some people can actually see us due to the fact that they have higher concentrations of Reiatsu or more Reiryoku although its very rare. Fact is though that more often than not we are sent to the areas where these people reside because the abnormalities in their values attract hollows to them." Hibiki looked around at all of them, completely and utterly serious. "The Captains have noticed that most of you graduating are not aware of this and are also unsure of how to act in a world so different to our own. Therefore we shall introduce a compulsory lesson that's twice a week that will show you and teach you how to deal in situations in other worlds."

"Professor Kato will be taking these lessons and the whole year group will be partaking in them, therefore you will be having them in Lecture Hall Five, which is large enough to accomodate you all." Aoi said as she looked around at the students gathered in front of them.

"Good luck!" Hibiki grinned and winked before leaving with Aoi who merely rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour. Groans filled the room as they realised that Professor Kato would be taking the class. He was known as one of the most annoying teachers on the campus as he was a stickler for the rules and also somehow managed to make his lessons incredibly boring.

They all filed into the big lecture hall and somehow they all managed to end up sitting near one another. Ari sat next to a window as usual, as she knew that she would be spending quite an amount of time sitting there feeling bored. Hinode hat managed to grab a seat next to her. Byakuya sat exactly behind Ari with Ichiro next to him and Ayane on the next table to the right of them. Grimmjow sat on the table diagonally in front of Ari and Hinode.

And so the lesson began.

As expected, Professor Hayato Kato managed to drone on and on as the lecture continued and Byakuya lost his concentration about half-way through the lesson. Ichiro had already given up twenty minutes ago and had fallen asleep, his head nodding up and down as it slipped a bit further down the hand he was resting his head on before lifting it up again subconsciously. Ayane was carefully painting her nails while conversing in hushed whispers with her friend next to her, looking up every couple of minutes to see if the professor noticed anything about them not paying any attention to his lecture at all. Ari was staring out of the window, watching a bird travel back and forth as it got food for its young and Hinode had begun to sketch something or the other on a pad that she had brought with her. Grimmjow had decided to follow the same path as Ichiro and catch up on some lost sleep.

Looking around the classroom, Byakuya noticed that it was like this for nearly every other student as they had begun occupying themselves with various other things so that they a) wouldn't fall asleep and b) not be bored to tears. There were only a few people actually paying some genuine attention to the lesson and he had to admit that he wasn't sure whether he respected them for their endurance or not. He was a pretty good student himself but those people took paying attention to lessons to a whole new level.

Professor Kato noticed nothing, being completely and utterly caught up in his lecture. Byakuya absently wondered how oblivious a teacher could actually be.

Ten minutes later he was still bored and decided to do something about it. They still had a whole hour of this lesson left and he knew that he would probably have to reread the material covered today at home as currently nothing was actually remaining in his head. The voice of the professor, along with the information, was literally going in through one ear and out through the other.

Ripping of a small piece of the parchment that was lying on his desk (pretty much untouched as he had lost the will to take notes after Professor Kato went into a long lecture about his first forray into the World of the Living) and began to write on it before folding it neatly and flicking it onto the desk in front of him. Hinode didn't notice it but Ari did and she picked it up.

_I'm bored._

She smirked, how original of him.

_And what am I supposed to do about that?_

She folded the note once more and discreetly passed it back to him. He smiled as he read her answer.

_I don't know. I just feel extrememly bored._

He passed it back. Her eyebrows quirked up at his response.

_My sentiments exactly. Professor Kato has to be taking the 'most boring teacher of the century' prize standing in his home very seriously. I mean, he has managed to induce nearly half of us into a coma. I think that's some kind of record considering our year group._

And back the parchment went.

_It is. And I'm seriously considering learning how to sleep with my eyes open. The most interesting thing that's happened so far is when Ryo Sakura nearly fell off his chair and Professor Kato asked him whether something was wrong._

They were beginning to run out of space.

_I know. He has to be the most oblivious teacher I know._

Byakuya ripped off some more of his parchment to continue.

_Agreed. So how is that bird faring outside of the window?_

Her lips quirked at the corners and she was barely able to conceal her smile when Professor Kato's eyes sweeped over their part of the classroom.

_Quite well. It must have at least ten chicks or something close to that as it's been flying by so often with so many worms. Four or five chicks can not eat that many worms._

His quill scratched across the surface of the parchment.

_And you have studied the dieting habits of birds in such a great extent that you can tell?_

Her reply came quickly.

_I watch that bird whenever Professor Kato leads the lessons. And I am telling you that it has more offspring than usual this year._

And so the discussion about birds and their dieting habits continued before they moved on to analysing each of their peers in the class. Once the hour was up, both felt highly entertained by their speculations of their fellow students and Byakuya had a lot of notes, only that none of them actually bore any relevance to what they had supposed to be learning in class.


End file.
